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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23856808">April Storm</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyOwl13/pseuds/GalaxyOwl13'>GalaxyOwl13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who, Doctor Who &amp; Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - OCs, Awesome Martha Jones, Canon Rewrite, Classic Doctor Who References, Daleks - Freeform, Episode AU: s03e01 Smith and Jones, Episode AU: s03e03 Gridlock, Episode Rewrite: s03e02 The Shakespeare Code, Episode: s03e01 Smith and Jones, Episode: s03e02 The Shakespeare Code, Episode: s03e03 Gridlock, Episode: s03e04 Daleks in Manhattan, Episode: s03e05 Evolution of the Daleks, Female Protagonist, Foreshadowing, Friendship, Gen, Harry Potter References, How Do I Tag, Logopolis, Major Original Character(s), Martha Jones Deserves Better, Martha Jones Is a Star, Meta, My First AO3 Post, Mystery, New Earth, Not A Fix-It, Not Shippy, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV Female Character, POV Original Character, POV Original Female Character, POV Third Person, Plot, Plot Twists, Posted Elsewhere, Referenced 11th Doctor Era, Season 3, Season 3 AU, Serial: s115 Logopolis, Strong Female Characters, Tenth Doctor Era, Time Agent Jack Harkness, Timey-Wimey, Whovian (Doctor Who), Whovian OCs, Whovians Enter the Doctor Who Universe, Work In Progress, very meta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:49:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>52,232</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23856808</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyOwl13/pseuds/GalaxyOwl13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>April Storm, 17 year old Whovian from America, is obsessed. Ever since her mother first introduced her to the show, she has lived and breathed Doctor Who. But when she wakes up in the Doctor Who Universe with her friend Harriet, she finds that it's not all fun and games. Somehow, she must convince the Doctor that the life she remembers, the life that revolved around the TV show he insists is her imagination, is real. The life even she is beginning to doubt. </p><p>Where did April and Harriet come from? Why are they here? And how can they return home? As April and Harriet do their best to survive adventuring with the Doctor, they must discover their past to save their future.</p><p>Season 3 rewrite. Also posted on fanfiction.net under the same username.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Martha Jones &amp; Original Character(s), Martha Jones &amp; Original Female Character(s), Tenth Doctor &amp; Martha Jones, The Doctor (Doctor Who) &amp; Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Grey and Boring Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This will be a rewrite of Season 3, where 2 OCs are added that know about the Doctor from a TV show called "Doctor Who". They have seen Seasons 1-11 of the revived series, along with bits and pieces of Classic Who. Their origins will be explored in this, as well as how they ended up randomly appearing on a street in London. There will be some extra adventures added in, and most if not all will be plot-relevant. This fanfiction does have an end-goal, I'm only partially making it up as I go.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Meet April and Harriet, two perfectly normal Whovians. But not everything is as it seems, and disaster is about to strike.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 1: A Grey and Boring Day</p><p>It wasn't a dark and stormy night, or any day at all suitable for drama. It was a normal day, with a normal temperature. Pretty, but there were still puddles on the road from the morning's drizzle and the sky looked a tinge grey at times. So very…normal.<br/>
April hated normal.<br/>
She was walking home from school when It happened. This event was so strange, so important to her life, that she would decide it deserved a capitol letter. Even in her thoughts, she always called this event It. If you listen hard enough, you could hear capitalization.<br/>
April thought of herself as very much your standard science-fiction geek, and used the word both as a proud battle-cry and a shield to hide behind. Glasses, messy hair, back sore from all the books she carried around in her backpack. If you asked her, she would call herself "hideous", but although she certainly wasn't beautiful, she wasn't ugly either. That is, if she got rid of the pencil behind her ear, wore something other than a shirt with a giant TARDIS on it, and took the time to get the knots out of her hair. All of which would be blasphemy to geekdom, in her opinion, so she was very much content with all the mean kids shouting "geek" at her. She took it as a sign that she was successful in her goals.<br/>
As such, she knew all about the butterfly effect and alternate universes and weird stuff like that, stuff that would make Jeremy Rice stare at her with his mouth gaping open for five whole minutes as she ran away. April wished she could have seen his reaction to her explanation of Quantum Theory in person, but she had been too busy running away.<br/>
For the rest of her life, April would wonder if this all would have turned out different if a strange idiot in a blue box hadn't walked out of said box in the Cretaceous Period and accidentally stepped on a butterfly while he was running away from a Zygon that crash-landed on Earth and was hell-bent on marrying him.<br/>
She would wonder if this would all have gone different if Jeremy Rice had stared for four minutes instead of five a week ago.<br/>
Or what if he had stared for six?</p><p>"Please," Ava said, laughing as she brushed her thick dark hair behind her ears, "kill me now."<br/>
"Oh, come off it," Elaine responded. "My singing's not that bad."<br/>
"It is to," Harriet chimed in. Her brown braids bounced on her shoulders as she talked.<br/>
"Now you're ganging up on me," Elaine said, grabbing her backpack.<br/>
"Yep," Ava said cheerfully.<br/>
"April, back me up here," Elaine said, pushing down the book that April had been attempting to read while walking through the hallway.<br/>
"Um," April said, slightly confused. "What?"<br/>
"Elaine's singing's pretty terrible, right?" Harriet asked. She jumped up to see over Elaine's shoulder. "Oh, hi Mike!"<br/>
"Hi!" A random boy that April had never talked to in her life said.<br/>
"'course not!" April defended her fried, pulling her book back up. She'd lost her place, and she was at the climax.<br/>
"She just wants to read," Elaine said. "That doesn't count!"<br/>
"Does to!" Harriet said.<br/>
"Do you three wanna come over to my house later?" Elaine asked, a moment later. "My mom's out, so we can watch as much Doctor Who as we want."<br/>
"You know," Ava said slowly. "The beginning of that sentence…"<br/>
"Ava!" Harriet said. "We're not like them."<br/>
"Yeah," April said. "We're the little angels every parent wants to have. I think I can come."<br/>
April would later wonder what would happen if she had said no. But she could probably blame some butterfly or random Medieval cleric named Bob for her decision. Time worked like that; she was pretty sure. Random things could influence other random things and create a chain reaction that changed the world.<br/>
Taking out her iPhone, April typed a quick 'yes' to her mother. Her friends were very predictable, but that's partially why she liked them. She didn't care about being friends with someone surprising, or loyal, or even smart. She just wanted someone to watch Doctor Who with who didn't take too much effort to be friends with.<br/>
If it took too much effort, she could always just hide away in her room and watch Doctor Who from there. At least, that's what she told herself. Secretly, April was very happy that she had friends who would put up with her constant references to an obscure British TV show.<br/>
"I can come too," Harriet said. "Harriet?"<br/>
"Sorry, viola lessons," April said. "But I can come over at four? Will you still be around then?"<br/>
"Well," Elaine said, "I was thinking about re-watching The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang, so I think so."<br/>
"Seriously?" Ava asked. "Moffat lover!"<br/>
"Hey, Moffat's good," April defended.<br/>
"Yeah, at least he wasn't Chibnall!" Harriet added cheerfully.<br/>
"But Chibnall's not bad either!" April insisted.<br/>
"Yeah, right," Elaine said.<br/>
"Yeah," April said sincerely, "right. So," she said, before anyone could contradict her again. "We'll take Elaine's bus?" Ava waved goodbye as she hopped on Bus H.<br/>
"Sounds good," Harriet said.<br/>
"Hey, what's that?" April asked, running over to the grass by the High School when she spotted a strange object lying there.<br/>
"What's what?" Harriet asked curiously.<br/>
"Come on," Elaine said. "Mrs. Richards doesn't like late-comers."<br/>
April bent down to find a strange device. Taking off her blue glasses, she could spot what appeared to be some sort of battery, with wires running all throughout it. Absurdly thin wires in weird colors. It had several bulbs on it, all of which appeared to be broken or burnt out.<br/>
Harriet knelt down by it, ignoring the busses that were beginning to leave the bus circle. "What do you think it –"<br/>
"Don't pick it up!" April said, stopping her friend's hands. She looked at it closer, holding back her long auburn hair from the strange device.<br/>
"You think it's dangerous?" Harriet asked.<br/>
"Could be some sort of bomb. Why'd you pick it up? Talk about genre blindness."<br/>
"We're not in a science-fiction story," Harriet protested. "Honestly, April, you believe in this stuff a little bit too –" she saw April's face. "I'm only kidding."<br/>
"Oh," April said quietly. "Sorry. Right. So…no!" Harriet had picked up the strange device.<br/>
"No countdown, so it's not a bomb."<br/>
"Not how bombs work," April said, exasperated. "You don't just go around picking up random—"<br/>
"April! Harriet!" Elaine shouted. The bus was driving away.<br/>
"C'mon!" Harriet said, dragging April to her feet and running towards the bus. "Let's go!" The three girls chased after the bus, feet pounding on the blacktop as they attempted to reach it in time.<br/>
"Give me a moment!" April said, hunched over and breathing heavily. "I can't – can't breathe."<br/>
"You need more practice running," Harriet said, looking nervously at the bus. It briefly stopped for the traffic officer and then continued onto the road. "We're too late." She looked down at her shoe, and reached down to tie it.<br/>
"My mom can –" April began. But she never managed to finish her sentence.</p><p>Jeremy Rice was cool, and he was very concerned about staying cool. If that meant a few eggs got cracked to make a cool omelet, no big deal. Cracking eggs was fun…not that he'd ever admit it. Enjoying 7th and 8th grade Home Economics was definitely not cool in the slightest ever in a million years. But when the eggs stood for people, well, what difference did that make? He'd happily bully a few annoying geeky girls if it meant he was still cool.<br/>
So, of course, why wouldn't he give some of his friends a ride in his car? Why wouldn't he turn the music up to a maximum so that he can't hear anything outside? Rap was cool, and Jeremy Rice was cool. A match made in heaven.<br/>
And cool kids don't refuse dares. Not that Jeremy Rice was even thinking of refusing when his friends offered him three cans of beer in the boy's bathroom during lunchtime. It never even crossed his head that this was a stupid, ridiculous idea. Cool kids don't think like that, and Jeremy Rice was most definitely cool. He certainly did not think about how he was going to be driving his friends home for a party that day after school, speakers blasting rap music so that he didn't hear the two girls in front of his car until it was too late.<br/>
Jeremy Rice was cool, and he was very keen to prove that he was still cool after that really really annoying April Storm girl got him gaping at some weird thing about a cat and electrons.<br/>
He was so busy being cool that he ran over two girls in the parking lot, one of them holding a weird device straight out of a science fiction book.<br/>
Or more accurately, a TV show.<br/>
In the split second before the car hit, April realized what was happening and panicked. Her heart jumped and her mouth prepared to scream.<br/>
And then the car hit, hit her and Harriet, and she screamed in pain. She could hear Harriet screaming too, and Elaine calling their names. Through her blurry vision, she could see Jeremy Rice getting out of his car, rap music still blaring, as he ran over to where she and her friend lay on the ground.<br/>
April blinked.<br/>
Harriet blinked.<br/>
And then everything went white.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Royal Hope Hospital</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In the wake of the car accident, April and Harriet wake up in a hospital. Somehow, they've been transported to the middle of London - and is that Martha Jones they see?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>April opened her eyes. Everything was blurry, a mix of white and blue and the sound of people talking to her left.<br/>
"Where –" April fell silent upon remembering that day's events. She had been hit by a car with Harriet and that idiot Jeremy Rice had stepped out and then she had blinked. It had hurt so much, and she had just wanted to…die. Am I dead? April thought. That would explain why everything's so white.<br/>
Alternative explanation – you're in a hospital.<br/>
Okay, that would explain all the whiteness and the comfy bed. April blinked again, but her eyes hurt. She felt like she had been turned inside out, smashed into pulp, and then molded into some semblance of herself, almost like she had travelled by Vortex Manipulator. Except that was stupid, because Doctor Who wasn't real.<br/>
"Hello," a woman in a doctor's coat said, sitting down next to her. Her face came into sharp focus. She had brown hair and a pale face, with lots of freckles. "Can you tell me what your name is?"<br/>
"Where am I?"<br/>
"American?" Asked the doctor.<br/>
April frowned. Of course, she was American. That was generally the default assumption if you lived in America and went to an American school and talked with an American accent.<br/>
April noticed that the doctor had a British accent. Was the accident that bad? April thought. Her head hurt, like something was attempting to break free. Did I need to be taken to some kind of super expert? In the UK? It didn't sound likely to her.<br/>
"Yes," April said. "Where am I?"<br/>
"You're at the Royal Hope Hospital," said the doctor, smiling down at her. "You and your friend were found lying on the street, unconscious."<br/>
"The…street?" April asked. "Where's my mom? Where's Harriet?"<br/>
"Yes, you were found on the street. The man who called 999 claimed that you just appeared out of nowhere. We've been attempting to find your medical records, but you don't seem to exist."<br/>
"Is Harriet okay?" April asked urgently. "She was…" April could see her screaming as the car hit her straight in the chest, her breathing labored. "Is she…"<br/>
"Your friend is fine," the doctor said, stepping aside. April could see a tall girl with black hair wearing a pink shirt in the bed near her, and she assumed it was Harriet.<br/>
"Good," April said. "Do you have my glasses?" The woman handed them to her, and April was able to see clearly again. Sure enough, Harriet was in the bed next to her.<br/>
"April!" Harriet said. "You're awake!" She tried to get up.<br/>
"Miss Taylor," said the doctor, "you shouldn't try to –"<br/>
"Don't worry," Harriet groaned, clutching her head. "Point taken. Massive headache."<br/>
April, however, was happy to feel the nausea leaving her. She sat up in bed. "You said found in the middle of the street." Something was very wrong here, but her head hurt too much for her to think properly.<br/>
"Yes."<br/>
"You mean in New York?"<br/>
"No," said the doctor carefully. "You were found in London and brought here, to the Royal Hope Hospital. We were unable to figure out what happened while you were unconscious, but now that you're awake we should be able to get this worked out. You'll be able to go home soon. Do you feel any pain in your head?"<br/>
"Yes," April said, wincing as the pain spiked again. "And I feel nauseous. But it's getting better." The doctor was recording this all in a notebook.<br/>
"And are you experiencing any amnesia?"<br/>
"Amnesia?" April asked. She thought back, remembering her day. "No, why? Should I be?"<br/>
"Of course not," she said swiftly. "But your case is unusual, we have to make sure."<br/>
"What's going on over there?" She turned to her left to see several people gathered around a bed. A woman was lying in the bed, talking.<br/>
"I was all right till this morning, and then, I don't know, I woke up and felt all dizzy again. It was worse than when I came in." Something about the words and the tone of voice felt familiar, but April brushed it aside.<br/>
"It's just some medical students," the doctor explained. "So, what would your name be?"<br/>
"April Storm," April said. "And really, I'm feeling fine now." That was when she realized what was wrong. She felt fine. Absolutely fine.<br/>
April looked down at her leg, remembering the feeling of it being run over, seeing the blood flowing out of it. She examined it, looking for a bandage, a scar, something…but there wasn't a scratch. "The accident," she began. "I'm okay. Why am I okay?"<br/>
"And that's what I'm wondering," Harriet said, holding her head in her hands. "Because I felt that car run over me. And it hurt. A lot. And then I woke up here and the doctors are saying I popped into existence in London of all places."<br/>
"Miss Taylor is saying that she believes she was in a car crash," the doctor said. "But there were no signs of injury upon admission to the hospital, nor any signs of drug use."<br/>
"There was a car crash," April maintained. "And we'd never do drugs."<br/>
"April," Harriet said, "this is really weird."<br/>
"Jones?" April heard a man say in the group of medical students.<br/>
"We could take bloods and check for Meniere's disease," said a young woman. April squinted at her.<br/>
"I think my glasses are broken," April said quietly.<br/>
"No," Harriet said, her voice faint. "I don't think they are."<br/>
"Is that…"<br/>
"Martha Jones. That's freaking Martha Jones," Harriet said, her eyes wide with wonder.<br/>
"Excuse me," said the doctor, scribbling away in her book. "Do you know her?"<br/>
"No, yes, well…" April began.<br/>
"Please tell me this isn't happening," Harriet said.<br/>
"We're dead," April responded. "It isn't happening, it's just my neurons randomly firing or something, generating a vision of…um…Smith and Jones."<br/>
"Could you explain?" Asked the doctor.<br/>
"Well," April said slowly. "Yes. First, can I ask you what your name is? I'm calling you the doctor inside my head and that's really not helping with my panicking right now."<br/>
"Dr. Rice," said the doctor.<br/>
"You're Jeremy's mom!" Harriet said, recognizing her. "You came to our class each year in Elementary School as Mystery Reader."<br/>
"Excuse me? You must have me confused with someone else," she said slowly. "Me and my son have lived in England for 13 years. Now, could you tell me your phone number so I can call your parents?"<br/>
April gave her the phone number and watched as she left, followed by the medical students. Then she climbed out of her bed and sat by Harriet. "What. Just. Happened?"<br/>
"Nothing, according to you," Harriet said. "We're dead. I had hoped that Heaven would be a bit less painful. Unless we're in hell. Always hated hospitals. But you? April Storm? Hell?"<br/>
"Well, if you're the one who's dying," April said slowly, "I would just be your imagination. And I'm not saying we're in Heaven or whatever, I'm saying that our neurons are randomly firing in the seconds before we die or something. Except Harriet Taylor, the real Harriet Taylor, is having her own dream. But if you were real, the pain…is you integrating your sensations into your imaginary scenario or something."<br/>
"How do you know this stuff?" Harriet asked.<br/>
"I just sort of pick it up," April smiled. "Well, this I got from the Good Place."<br/>
"I wouldn't think you'd have seen that."<br/>
"Well…I didn't want to," April said. "My mom made me. Too much lovey stuff. Didn't like it." Harriet groaned in pain. "What if it's not," April said suddenly.<br/>
"What?"<br/>
"What if we're not dying," April explained.<br/>
"We're not. We're dead. We're in Heaven or Hell or Purgatory. Or I guess our neurons could be firing randomly." Harriet rubbed her temples. "God, that's depressing."<br/>
"I mean, what if this is real. I mean, it's not, but just what if?" April said, looking at the door that Martha Jones had left through. "What if the Doctor's real?"<br/>
"It's impossible," Harriet laughed.<br/>
"Doctor who?" Asked Florence Finnegan, the straw lady. April giggled and then caught herself.<br/>
"TV show," she explained. "Nothing's impossible," she said to Harriet. "Improbable, sure. Probability of one out of, um, ten to the…" April struggled to think of a suitably high number to convey the level of improbability. "Googleplex power."<br/>
"Practically nonexistent," Harriet said. "I don't want to spend my last minutes doing math, thank you very much."<br/>
"Math is cool," April protested.<br/>
"That's an insult to bowties," Harriet responded.<br/>
"Just think. What happens if this is real?"<br/>
"Well, the Judoon move this place to the moon and the Plasmavore tries…oh." Harriet stopped. "But it's not."<br/>
"'Course it's not," April said, thinking of her family. They were probably standing over her hospital bed right now, watching as her heart monitor beeped slower and slower. It hurt, so she focused on other things. It was fairly easy when she had just seen Martha Jones suggest taking blood samples. "But honestly, my last few seconds alive? I want to spend them on an adventure." She grabbed the handrail of the hospital bed and, to her surprise, received a static shock. "Ouch."<br/>
"Was that –"<br/>
"Yes," April grinned. "Let's go."<br/>
"But what if it's real?" Harriet questioned as April headed for the door, past the bed with the Plasmavore.<br/>
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" A man asked as the two girls hurried down the hallway, looking for the Doctor.<br/>
"Yeah," Harriet said. "Does it matter?"<br/>
"She's a bit confused," April said quietly. "I'm leading her to the bathrooms."<br/>
"Hey," Harriet said as the man left. "It doesn't matter."<br/>
"Well, this place is pretty logical for a dream, and they could make us go back to bed," April said, looking out the window. The rain was pouring down, down, down…<br/>
Up.<br/>
"Harriet!" April said excitedly. "It's going up!"<br/>
"Have you seen the rain?" Asked a woman, walking past them.<br/>
"It's going up, yeah," Harriet said, staring out the window.<br/>
"Grab ahold of something, hallucination," April advised, holding on tight to the windowsill. Sure enough, the thunder rolled and lightening flashed, and the building began to tilt.<br/>
"I feel nauseous for a dream!" Harriet yelled, clutching onto the window. The woman in the hallway fell down, pulling herself back up only to topple over again. Finally, the rain stopped. "My stomach," Harriet groaned. "I feel like I just travelled via vortex manipulator."<br/>
"Same," April said.<br/>
The woman ran past them to the window. "It's nighttime!" She shrieked.<br/>
"We're on the moon," April corrected. "C'mon, let's get to that balcony."<br/>
The two girls wove their way through the hysterical, completely imaginary crowds until they reached the patients' lounge. They opened the door to step out. "Don't!" A man yelled. Harriet and April ignored him and stood out on the balcony, viewing the starry night sky.<br/>
"It's beautiful," Harriet said, her voice choked. "Fake, but beautiful."<br/>
"Yeah," April said, her eyes misting over as she stared at the giant globe hanging in the starry sky. "We're dying, Harriet."<br/>
"I know," Harriet said. "Permission to hug?"<br/>
"'course," April said, holding her friend close as they cried into each other's shoulders. "We had so many things we were gonna do."<br/>
"We never did get to see Season 12," Harriet said sadly.<br/>
"That's what you think of?" April laughed weakly.<br/>
"I never kissed Tony," Harriet tried.<br/>
"Seriously. There are so many more important things than kissing a stupid boy," April said. "I argued with my mom this morning. Not like that's any different than normal, but still." Her glasses were foggy, so she plucked them off her face and polished them instinctively with the cloth she kept in her pocket. "Wait a second," April said, suddenly feeling very nervous.<br/>
"What?" Harriet asked, oblivious to her realization.<br/>
"I can believe that my near-death hallucination is about Doctor Who. I can even believe that it's this realistic. But I can't believe that my vision is blurry when I don't wear my glasses." It was the most absurd of things to base her conclusion on, but somehow April was filled with a sense of certainty.<br/>
"So, you're saying…"<br/>
"I think it's real," April whispered, looking down at her glasses.<br/>
"Impossible."<br/>
"Improbable. Remember that weird thing you picked up? Before we were hit?" April said, knowing her friend's heart was also sinking in her chest, sorrow replaced by pure dread. "What if…" She couldn't finish her sentence.<br/>
"What if it brought us here?" There was a long, heavy pause. "That's ridiculous, things don't actually work like that." Another pause.<br/>
"Alright then," April said. "How do we get back?"<br/>
"What if we died in our universe?" Harriet asked. "The accident…"<br/>
"No," April said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I'm not getting stuck here."<br/>
"But April," Harriet said. "This is great. We could travel with the Doctor."<br/>
"We could die!" April said as two people walked through the glass doors. "We could never see our family again! We've got to –"<br/>
"We've got air," Martha said, and they fell silent. "How does that work?"<br/>
"Just be glad it does," the Doctor replied as April and Harriet looked on in awe. This was real, really, really real. April was watching the Doctor and Martha Jones talk on the moon.<br/>
"I've got a party tonight," Martha said, staring off into literal space. "It's my brother's twenty-first. My mother's going to be really, really…"<br/>
"You okay?" The Doctor asked.<br/>
"Yeah," Martha answered.<br/>
"S—oh, hello!" The Doctor said, coming over to April and Harriet. "How'd you get out here."<br/>
Harriet stared at the Doctor, awestruck. "Um," April said, grasping for words. "Through the doors."<br/>
"Well obviously," said the Doctor, frowning. "Though I suppose you could've teleported in. But really, the question is…why?"<br/>
"That's…that's the Doctor," Harriet stammered.<br/>
"How'd you know my name?" The Doctor asked, pulling out his sonic and scanning them. "Human. Well?"<br/>
"I don't know," April said.<br/>
"You don't know how you know me?" He asked skeptically.<br/>
"Our dad's in UNIT," Harriet supplied faintly.<br/>
"Aren't you two supposed to be in bed?" Martha asked them curiously.<br/>
"You know who they are?" The Doctor asked. "Everyone knows who everyone is today."<br/>
"They're the two girls who just appeared in the middle of London," Martha said. "Everyone here knows who they are."<br/>
"Right," April said, standing up. "This is real, isn't it? Because I seriously doubt my ability to realistically model the Doctor in my head."<br/>
"I think so," Harriet told her.<br/>
"You said your dad's in UNIT?" The Doctor asked.<br/>
"Yeah," April responded confidently, fixing her glasses again. "Colonel Smith."<br/>
"Is he related to you, Mr. Smith?" Martha asked the Doctor.<br/>
"It's not Smith," said the Doctor. "That's not my real name."<br/>
"Oh, well, Doctor, right? Me too, if I can pass my exams. Well," said Martha, "is he related to you Doctor Smith?"<br/>
"Wait a second," April said.<br/>
"What?"<br/>
"Can you give me a moment to talk with my friend?" Harriet asked. She pulled April aside. "Mr. Stoker—"<br/>
"I know," April said, thinking hard about the episode. "I think we're too late."<br/>
"But we can't just let someone die."<br/>
"Well do you have any better ideas?" April asked.<br/>
"Tell him."<br/>
"Then he'd know something's off with us."<br/>
"Go with the UNIT cover story. You're a better liar than me," Harriet said.<br/>
"Alright, but if he finds out…"<br/>
"We could die," Harriet said quietly. "But there's a man somewhere getting his blood sucked out of him, and he's scared. And he's going to die."<br/>
"So many people die in Doctor Who," April said, beginning to smile. "We can help. We can make it better."<br/>
"One person at a time."<br/>
April nodded, walking over to the Doctor, who was discussing aliens and Adeola with Martha Jones. "Doctor. Martha Jones."<br/>
"Yes?" Said the Doctor. "What would your names be, by the way?"<br/>
"April. My…sister's Harriet," April said, stumbling over the word and hoping that the Doctor didn't detect their lack of genetic similarities. "Our dad told us…that there…was some creature at the hospital. You need to just go to Mr. Stoker's office and help him. Please," she said, knowing full well that she sounded absolutely ridiculous. Why would they listen to her?<br/>
"Why would your father put you in the hospital if he knew there was something dangerous there?" The Doctor asked. He scanned them again with the sonic.<br/>
"Please," April said again. "He's in danger, and you can help him."<br/>
"And you said they just popped into existence?" He asked Martha.<br/>
"No," Martha explained, "it's got to have been extraterrestrial, hasn't it? With everything that's been going on…and this. No coincidence."<br/>
"Well then!" The Doctor said, racing towards the door. "Someone's in trouble, let's go."<br/>
"But—"<br/>
"Stay or come, your choice," he said to Harriet and April. "Martha Jones—lead the way!" He dashed out the doors, and the she followed.<br/>
"Come on," Harriet said to April urgently, pulling her along. They dashed through the hallways of the hospital as April saw spaceships passing overhead. The Doctor doesn't know about the Judoon! She thought. He'll have to figure it out some other way.<br/>
"Hey!" A man shouted. "Where're you goin'?"<br/>
"To find aliens," the Doctor said matter-of-factly, pushing past him.<br/>
"Don't have ta go lookin'," he said, pointing at the ceiling. "They're up there."<br/>
"Are they?" Asked the Doctor, running over to the window and pulling it open despite his protests.<br/>
"Aliens," Martha said faintly. "That's aliens."<br/>
"Real, proper aliens," April said as she looked over their shoulders. "We're wasting time," she muttered.<br/>
"Oh, the Judoon."<br/>
"The what?" Martha asked.<br/>
"Judoon. They're like police. Well, police for hire. They're more like interplanetary thugs." The Doctor turned around in shock upon hearing Harriet and April say his last two sentences along with him.<br/>
"And they brought us to the moon?" Martha asked, not having heard the two girls. Harriet and April looked at each other, worried.<br/>
"He heard us," Harriet whispered.<br/>
"Neutral territory," the Doctor said, ignoring them. "According to galactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth, and they isolated it. That rain, lightning? That was them, using an –"<br/>
"H2O scoop," Harriet muttered, and then clapped a hand over her mouth. The Doctor's eyes narrowed, and he slowly turned around. April found herself suddenly frightened of him. He's the Doctor, she told herself. You're not going to get hurt.<br/>
"How do you know that?" He asked Harriet quietly.<br/>
"Water," April supplied quickly. "They – they used water, and, and scooped us up. H2O scoop?"<br/>
"No, no, no," he said. "That's not the sort of connection…that you make. What are you? Why were you lying?"<br/>
"We're human!" Harriet squeaked. "I swear, we're human. Scan us with your sonic screwdriver." A second passed before she realized what she had said.<br/>
"And did your UNIT dad tell you about that?" He asked coldly.<br/>
"Mr. Smith," Martha said. "Mr. Smith, they're kids. They're not aliens. We've got to go help Mr. Stoker."<br/>
"This is important."<br/>
"Mr. Stoker is dying!" April shouted. "We can't waste time." The Doctor stared at her for a moment before tucking his sonic screwdriver away.<br/>
"Well then." He thought for a moment, then smiled. "Allons-y!" He yelled, running through the corridors. Harriet, Martha, and April ran after him…until they reached a triplet of Judoon.<br/>
"Oh, no," April said quietly. One of the Judoon pointed its scanner at the Doctor.<br/>
"Non-human."<br/>
"That rhino thing talks?" Martha asked.<br/>
"Run!" The Doctor yelled, racing through the hospital as the Judoon fired its strange weapon. They ran up the stairs, April breathing hard. She couldn't believe that there was so much running.<br/>
"I…can't…" she said, halfway up.<br/>
"C'mon!" Harriet said, tugging on her hand.<br/>
"Go," April said. "'m human. Not in danger." She leaned against the wall, her breath labored. The lack of oxygen certainly wasn't helping, and even with her adrenaline she just couldn't keep going.<br/>
"I'm not—" Harriet said, and April cursed her friend's sentimental nature. Everyone was in danger, and it only took one of them to tell him what he needed to know. "Go." Harriet ran, chasing after Martha and the Doctor.<br/>
The Judoon caught up to her, pointing their scanners. April tried in vain to steady her breathing and decrease her oxygen usage, but her lungs were still burning and she felt faint. Her heart pounded in her chest as the Judoon pointed his scanner at her. It's okay, they're not going to hurt me, I'm human, I'm not in danger. And almost in slow-motion, she watched the strange rhino-mouth move.<br/>
"Non-human."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Smith and Jones</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Judoon are convinced that April's not human, the hospital is losing oxygen, and the heroes are running out of time. April must save the hospital, her friends, and the world, but at what cost?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>The Judoon caught up to her, pointing their scanners. April tried in vain to steady her breathing and decrease her oxygen usage, but her lungs were still burning and she felt faint. Her heart pounded in her chest as the Judoon pointed his scanner at her. And almost in slow-motion, she watched the strange rhino-mouth move.</em>
</p><p>"<em>Non-human."</em></p><hr/><p><em>What? </em>April thought. "I'm human!"</p><p>The Judoon raised its weapon. "Confirm. Plasmavore, charged with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrival Regency Nine."</p><p>"No!" April tried to shout, but it came out as a whimper. "I'm human. Please."</p><p>"Verdict, guilty, Sentence, execution." <em>What's going on?</em> April wondered. She was human, definitely utterly human. Unless…was she somehow chameleon arched? <em>No, that would still scan as human!</em></p><p>
  <em>Focus on living, or you'll be a dead human.</em>
</p><p>April took a deep breath and slid down the stairs, past the Judoon and to the floor. Stumbling to her feet, she ran down past the Judoon, her lungs burning with exertion. "Need to…" she whispered, falling down. "Need to get up." April struggled back up, tears filling her eyes as she heard the Judoon shouting to find the non-human. She managed a few more feet and collapsed on the ground, crying as she suffocated to death.</p><p>April could see Elaine back at home, face pale as she ran over to April and Harriet bleeding out on the blacktop. She could see the car coming towards her, ready to kill. And she could imagine her parents crying as they heard she was gone, her little brothers sitting in their crumpled black suits as they sat by her empty grave. "No," April whispered to herself. "Get up off your arse and win."</p><p>The quote gave her enough strength to stagger to her feet. If this was a Doctor Who episode, April knew that there would be heroic music playing, but there wasn't any. Just the sounds of Judoon shouting and people panting in the oxygen-deficient air. Fighting her way towards the information desk, April grabbed a marker and drew an X on the back of her hand, her hands shaking. Then, all strength gone, she melted into the soft chair, hoping that she hadn't messed up the timeline too much.</p><p>A Judoon came over to her, and grabbed her hand. April closed her eyes, silently pleading with the ancient butterflies of the world to flap their wings at the right time and make the Judoon fall for the trick. The Judoon looked at her hand and then looked at her face, and then back at her hand. April couldn't breathe, but that didn't mean much because there wasn't any air left to breathe anyway.</p><p>"Suspect already catalogued," said the Judoon. And then he walked away, boots stomping on the hospital floor.</p><p><em>Now get up</em>, April told herself.</p><p><em>Does it matter? There's nothing…I can…do.</em> April gasped for air, a fish out of water.</p><p><em>What if I messed things up? I need to get to the MRI room!</em> Arms burning, April dragged herself over to the elevator, pressing the buttons to bring her up to floor 3. She lay on the ground, exhausted, gaping, and ready to give up. Then, right as the elevator doors opened, she heard a scream and a crash. <em>The Doctor's about to go in there, unless I messed it up. He'll save the Earth. </em>April closed her eyes.</p><p>And then suddenly a thought occurred to her. The Doctor might not be there, and if he wasn't, it was her fault. But she could still put this right. She could still do her best to get the Plasmavore caught.</p><p><em>No</em>, said the little voice in her head that was largely responsible for keeping her alive and disagreeing with her conscience when it put her in danger. <em>No, no, no, you're not doing that!</em></p><p>
  <em>Well, this isn't a question of "give your life to save someone," is it? It's "you're probably going to die, and it's your fault, so you might as well save everyone else's life while you're at it."</em>
</p><p><em>No death is a good death,</em> April argued with herself.</p><p><em>If the Doctor doesn't get there, you're going to die,</em> her brain told her bluntly. She didn't contradict it. <em>So go. Save the people who can still live.</em></p><p>What did it matter? The Doctor would find a way to get out, a way to win. This wasn't April's job, it was his. You'll live longer if you stay, that selfish part of her brain said.</p><p>
  <em>No, it matters. So many lives. And it's up to you to save them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I don't want to.</em>
</p><p><em>Well, too bad. Go on. Save them. </em>April thought of all the people who would die if she didn't do something.</p><p>
  <em>It's not fair.</em>
</p><p>April nearly laughed at that. <em>You sound like such a baby. People to save, April, people who are crying out for help. Do you want Harriet to die too?</em> And that was enough. April dragged herself out of the elevator and, in a sudden burst of strength, heaved herself up once more and stumbled into the MRI room. Sure enough, Florence Finnigan, the Plasmavore, was waiting there, fiddling with the MRI. Two of the Slabs waited by the door.</p><p>The Doctor was nowhere to be seen.</p><p>"Have you seen those things?" April gasped. There was somehow more oxygen in here, but not much. "Those giant rhino things, with guns. We're on the moon. The moon! Aliens," she said. "Who'd have thought. Well," April desperately searched for meaningless chatter. She could barely get enough oxygen to stay awake, let alone talk. "Mr. Saxon's certainly got my vote now. I mean, he may be an evil maniac, at least according to those wacky conspiracy theories, but I think I'll vote for him now after seeing this. If I do get out of here…alive."</p><p>"Hold her," said the Plasmavore, and the two slabs grabbed April by the arms. Instinctively, she tried to break free, but one of them pulled her hair back.</p><p>"Stop!" She gasped. Her glasses fell on the floor, and the world went fuzzy, but she continued on. "So, that machine thingy. Is it supposed to be making that noise? Sounds like it's dying or something. But isn't that like a magnetic resonance imaging thing? I think my science teacher talked about it, but I was too busy talking to my friend, Elaine. Oh, I hope she's doing okay. Don't think I'm going to see her again, seeing as, well, the world's ending." April could see purple energy arcing around inside of the MRI.</p><p>"The magnetic setting now increased to fifty thousand Tesla." April gasped for air. Why wasn't the Doctor coming? She didn't want to do this, but she'd have to do something before the Judoon got there.</p><p>"That sounds pretty high, doesn't it?" April said, steeling herself for what was to come.</p><p>"Oh," said the Plasmavore, "it'll send out a magnetic pulse that'll fry the brain stems of every living thing within two hundred and fifty thousand miles. Except for me, safe in this room." April looked over at the door, silently praying to any god whatsoever to get the Doctor in here. "It's almost ready."</p><p>"Well, wouldn't that include the Earth?" April asked, feigning confusion. If the Slabs weren't holding her upright, she doubted she could have stood, even leaning against the wall. She closed her eyes, blinking the black spots away, but her chest just hurt even more.</p><p>"Only the side facing the moon. The other half will survive. Call it my little gift."</p><p>April struggled weakly against the Slab. "You're talking like you're some sort of alien."</p><p>"Quite so."</p><p>"No!"</p><p>"Oh, yes."</p><p>"You're kidding me," April said. "What're you…doing…in the hospital?"</p><p>"It's the perfect hiding place," grinned Mrs. Finnegan. "Blood banks downstairs for a midnight feast, and all this equipment ready to arm myself with should the police come looking." April could hear the Judoon stomping around outside, and closed her eyes again. This was it. The Plasmavore had to be tricked, and she had to be the one. For some reason, the Judoon didn't think she was human. <em>Because this isn't my reality. I'm not their type of human, at least according to their scanners.</em></p><p>"So, the weird space rhinos, they're looking for you?" April said, mimicking the Doctor's line as best as she could. <em>Please show up, Doctor. I don't want to die.</em> She was getting close to the point of no return.</p><p>"Yes. But I'm hidden."</p><p>"So, that's why they're increasing their scans."</p><p>"They're doing what?"</p><p>"The big leader one said that they were gonna increase their scans to level two or something. Can you believe him? Shoved me against a wall, scanned me, and put a big X on my hand. The nerve."</p><p>"Then I must assimilate again."</p><p>"Assimilate. Like, appear to not be an alien?"</p><p>"Precisely," she said, plugging in the MRI scanner. The Magnetic Overload sign turned on, and it began to beep.</p><p>"Well, I can give you my hoodie," April said. She was panting for breath, and she wasn't even moving. Tears began to leak out of her eyes, but she tried to blink them away. She'd nearly died in the car accident, and Harriet had been dying. What difference was this? <em>I had some extra time. Saw space. From the moon. Met the Doctor. </em></p><p>
  <em>I could've just died, but I didn't. I'm lucky. </em>
</p><p>"Why should I need a primitive piece of clothing? I've got my little straw. Steady her!" April could feel her heart pumping as one of the Slabs forced her to her knees and wrenched her head to the side.</p><p>"Please," April found herself saying. <em>Shut up! </em>She told herself. <em>You chose this. </em>But it was too much for her to expect herself to maintain her dignity as a blood-sucking alien advanced on her with a straw. "Please, please don't, I'm not, I'm, the Judoon…" April forced herself to clench her jaw shut as the Plasmavore stuck her straw into April's throat. A sharp, stabbing pain shot through her, and April clenched her teeth. <em>I'm not going to scream, I'm not going to scream.</em></p><p>"I'm afraid this is going to hurt. But if it's any consolation—" The door burst open, and the Doctor, Harriet, and Martha ran in.</p><p>"No!" The Doctor yelled. "Get away from her!" He attempted to push the Plasmavore off, but the Slabs grabbed him and the other two girls. "No! What're you doing!"</p><p>The Plasmavore looked up from April's body. Her eyes were blurry, with her glasses lying on the floor, and her vision swum, black spots covering most of the scene. "I must assimilate!" She said.</p><p>"Then use me instead," said the Doctor, "for whatever your weird History term thing is."</p><p>April knew she couldn't stay conscious much longer. The Plasmavore looked at the Doctor curiously. "Very well then." She removed her straw and wiped it with some sort of cross. "Steady him!" She ordered.</p><p>"No!" Martha yelled, fighting the Slab that was holding her. Harriet held her back and then collapsed against the wall, unconscious.</p><p>"Doctor," April whispered, falling to the ground. She had to tell him about the MRI. "The…"</p><p>"Trust me," he said, as the Plasmavore stuck her straw into his neck.</p><p>"At least help April!" Martha yelled. "You don't need to hurt her. Just let me help her." April closed her eyes and the darkness dragged her into its depths. She was falling…falling into the void...</p><hr/><p>When she opened her eyes again and regained consciousness every cell in her body burned.</p><p>"Verdict, guilty," said a Judoon that must've entered the room while she'd been out.</p><p>"Slab, stop them!" The Plasmavore shrieked. April looked over at the MRI, going into overload. She had to stop it. She had to save Earth.</p><p>And so, she began to crawl towards it, inch by inch.</p><p>The Judoon fried one of the Slabs, but the other one knocked the Judoon out. April reached the cables that the Plasmavore had plugged in. She saw the Doctor lying on the ground, white from blood loss. Martha was now free, lying on the floor. And Harriet was coming to. April saw Harriet look at the unconscious Judoon. Harriet stumbled towards the door.</p><p>"Non-human located!" April heard her scream outside the room. "Non-human in here!" Energy began to crackle around the MRI as it prepared to destroy them.</p><p>"Hold her!" The Plasmavore screamed, watching as the remaining Slab grabbed Harriet and forced her away from the door. April wrenched apart the cables that she had seen the Doctor separate in the show. "No!" Shrieked the Plasmavore. "No, no, no! Stop her!" The Plasmavore let go of Harriet and grabbed April again, who struggled to remain conscious as she tried her best to find wires to pull away from the machine and prevent it from restarting. Martha crawled over to the Doctor, beginning CPR. "No! Get the doctor-girl!"</p><p>The Slab released April to grab Martha, just as three more Judoon entered the room. April could only watch as the Judoon scanned the Plasmavore.</p><p>"Non-human."</p><p>April saw the Plasmavore scream in pain as she was executed, Harriet fall to the ground, and Martha give her last breath to revive the Doctor. And then she couldn't hold on any longer, and everything went black.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Explanations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Full of unanswered questions, April and Harriet must convince the Doctor of the truth and recover from the aftermath of their first adventure.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>The Slab released April to grab Martha, just as the Judoon entered the room. April could only watch as the Judoon scanned the Plasmavore, fried the Slab, and sentenced her to execution. She saw the Plasmavore scream in pain, Harriet fall to the ground, and Martha give her last breath to revive the Doctor. And then she couldn't hold on any longer, and everything went black.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>When April regained consciousness, she could feel the hard, cold ground beneath her. She blinked, still dizzy. <em>I'm alive</em>, she thought. <em>How am I alive?</em> April blinked again and saw the Doctor helping Martha up and Harriet stirring on the ground.</p><p>"You should go with them," the Doctor told Martha. "Tell your family that you're okay."</p><p>"Will Harriet and April be okay? That…creature…"</p><p>"Plasmavore."</p><p>"That Plasmavore was sucking April's blood. How much did she take?"</p><p>"Not much. We got there in time. It's a bit like donating blood—"</p><p>"To an evil alien who killed another alien. Mr. Saxon's right," Martha said. "There's so much out there. We aren't alone. Or safe."</p><p>"Earth will be safe," said the Doctor, "as long as I am here to protect it." Martha's phone rang, and she left the room. Outside in the hallway, April could see people moving about, helping people up or onto stretchers.</p><p>"April!" Harriet said. April crawled over to her, picking up her glasses on the way and shoving them on her face.</p><p>"Harriet! Are you…?"</p><p>"I'm fine. Thought you were gonna die there."</p><p>"I…" April couldn't say it. She had also thought she was going to die. Reaching up to touch her face, April realized that it was covered in tear tracts.</p><p>"Right," said the Doctor, sitting down next to them. "The Smiths."</p><p>"Did you destroy her machine?" April asked him. "She was…was going to destroy Earth. Or half of it at least."</p><p>"You stopped it," the Doctor said, "you got lucky when you pulled apart the cables. And I made sure that it wouldn't be fit to function ever again," he said. "Is your neck still bleeding?" April lightly touched her wound from the Plasmavore's straw. Her hand came away with bits of dried blood on it, but no liquid. <em>Yuck. I'm definitely going to need a shower. </em>She shook her head.</p><p>"Will there be any side effects from oxygen deprivation?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"Nope," the Doctor said cheerfully. Then his expression turned serious. "You've been lying to me."</p><p>"We were confused," Harriet defended. "We can tell you the truth."</p><p>"Are you—" April began.</p><p>"Look," Harriet said. "We just tell him what we know. And then he takes us home, and that's it."</p><p>"He won't believe us."</p><p>"I'll believe the truth," the Doctor interrupted, "if you tell it to me. I can help." Again, April remembered how she was way out of her depth. She would never have believed that she'd be fighting space rhino police on the moon with The Doctor and Martha Jones.</p><p>"We live—lived in what we think was another universe," April said slowly. "We were hit by a car on our way home from school and then we woke up here. But when we were leaving school, we found this strange device. Harriet picked it up, and we think it might have been what got us here, even if that doesn't make much sense. It didn't trigger or anything. In our universe there was this…TV show. Really popular in the UK, but not in America. Me and my friends loved it. It was called Doctor Who, and it was about a man named the Doctor who travelled time and space with a spaceship called the TARDIS."</p><p>"No. You're wrong," the Doctor said confidently.</p><p>"I know it's true," April said. "If I were going to lie, wouldn't I think of something this…dumb. And I'm not mistaken, because I remember it really clearly. I've been watching it since forever, with my mom." She giggled in spite of herself. "This is an episode. Smith and Jones."</p><p>"And you're saying that you watched these episodes…watched my life…for fun?"</p><p>"Well, yes." Harriet said. "Like a family show."</p><p>"A family show?" The Doctor said incredulously. "You think my life is a family show?"</p><p>"No," April said carefully, "we think it's that in our universe. Here, it's real. And we want you to help us get back home."</p><p>"You think this is fake."</p><p>"No," April repeated. "Here, it's real."</p><p>The Doctor paused for a few moments. "Tell me about the TV show."</p><p>"What if that causes a paradox or something?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"I mean little things," he said, frustrated. "Who plays me? How much do you know?"</p><p>"You're played by David Tennant," Harriet said. "Well this incarnation anyway."</p><p>"Well, it showed your first seven incarnations, then there was a gap, then a bit of your eighth…it skipped the Time War but showed tiny segments of it much later. Then nine, and ten, and –"</p><p>"Don't," the Doctor interrupted her. "Knowledge of the future is highly dangerous…" He frowned running his hand through his hair. "You shouldn't know this much! You don't make any sense!"</p><p>"I get that a lot," April muttered. Harriet smiled slightly.</p><p>"You haven't ever seen into anyone's timeline, have you?" The Doctor asked.</p><p>"No," Harriet said. April shook her head.</p><p>"We're just from another universe," April explained.</p><p>"No, because that should be impossible. The sheer amount of energy it would require…all gaps were sealed between this universe and others."</p><p>"Obviously not."</p><p>"No…if not time sensitive…"</p><p>"We're from another universe," Harriet said.</p><p>"No…" the Doctor shook his head and began pacing around the room. "Because universes are separated by the void, and if you travel through them, you get void particles on you." His voice was bitter, and it took April a moment to realize how recently he'd lost Rose Tyler. "And you don't have any void particles on you."</p><p>"That's impossible!" Harriet said, astounded.</p><p>"Which is why you're wrong. You've always lived here. And somehow you've been seeing into my timeline."</p><p>"I can remember my life," April said. "And quite a lot of it involved that show.</p><p>"There are ways to manufacture memories."</p><p>"Not like this!" April protested. "It's one thing to program in a geographic location and names," she said, thinking of John Smith's inability to remember his childhood, "but you can't do everything. I have two little brothers, David and Luke. David loves to make his hair stick up because then Luke would laugh, even when he was just a baby. And Luke was always my best friend when I was little, until my mom decided that she was going to stop working from home and couldn't homeschool us. Then he made all these friends and I was so jealous because no one wanted to talk to me, not even him. No one, Doctor, can fake that."</p><p>"And none of that's from 'Doctor Who'," he pointed out. "Although it does…appear to rule out all of your memories being false." He sat down, thinking. "And where'd they even get a name like that?" He shook his head. "Doctor Who."</p><p>"Fine! When I was first introduced to Doctor Who," Harriet said, "I was ten years old. Everywhere I went, I kept hearing things about Doctor Who. At school, at my mom's job. Freaking Jeremy Rice's mom read us a book about it as the mystery reader, and he wouldn't be caught dead watching something geeky. But I was constantly hearing about Doctor Who and wanted to know what everyone else was talking about. I begged my parents to watch them after my friend Elaine told me all about it, and finally they said 'yes'. Except we searched everywhere and we couldn't find the episodes. And it was summer break and Elaine was on vacation. I was so excited when my new friend April came over to my house and casually mentioned that she was watching a show called 'Doctor Who'. So, she brought me over to her house the next day and we watched when you met Rose, and before long we were both laughing really hard at the burping dustbin and plastic Mickey. And we were friends. There you go, Doctor. Highly emotional, highly specific, and highly connected with the show. It can't be fictional."</p><p>"But it is," he said. His eyes seemed to scan the two of them. "There's an easy way to tell if you're from this universe or not. But I don't know if I can trust you."</p><p>"We helped you in the—"</p><p>"Your goals aligned with mine," he corrected April. "How old are you?"</p><p>"Eighteen," Harriet said. "April's seventeen."</p><p>"Not nearly old enough to be Time Agents…but you could be older than you look." He paused, thinking for a while. "If what you're saying is true, you don't have anywhere to go." The two girls nodded. "I suppose you know about the TARDIS?" They nodded again. "Come with me. I know some people who could help figure out what's going on with you, and you're not safe to the universe here, trustworthy or not."</p><p>"We're not going to get attacked by aliens?" Harriet asked. "Because that seems to happen a lot to your companions."</p><p>"You're not companions," the Doctor corrected. "I don't do that anymore." His expression became distant for a moment. "Well? Come on." Harriet pushed herself up using the wall and helped April to her feet.</p><p>The two girls stumbled towards the elevator. "What were you <em>thinking</em>?" Harriet whispered to April. "Going into the room with the Plasmavore."</p><p>"The Doctor was late," April whispered back as they stood in the elevator.</p><p>"Was I?" The Doctor asked, and April cursed super Time Lord hearing. "If I had gotten there a minute later," he said, "you would have been dead. There wasn't any time for the Slabs to capture you…you must've found the MRI room and gone in."</p><p>"Exactly," Harriet said. "And she wouldn't have decided to assimilate unless…"</p><p>April took a deep breath. "When the Judoon entered the room, there was only supposed to be one Slab. Remember?" She said to Harriet.</p><p>"Supposed to?" The Doctor frowned. "Did you see a likely timeline and latch onto it?"</p><p>"Um…well, it's what happened in the show. You and Martha stopped one of the Slabs. And then," April continued, as the elevator reached the ground floor. "Remember how the Judoon stopped one of the Slabs?"</p><p>"That's not an explanation," the Doctor said. "I need to know everything you can tell me—not about the future," he said hastily. "The past. So, if you really are innocent in this, I can help you." His expression darkened. "It wouldn't be the first time people've claimed to know my future and lied."</p><p>"You know that I'm human, right?" April said.</p><p>"Unless someone's been messing with my sonic screwdriver."</p><p>"Oh right!" Harriet said. "It hasn't been destroyed, has it?"</p><p>"It's indestructible!" The Doctor protested.</p><p>"That's tempting fate," Harriet said.</p><p>"No such thing. And back on topic…yes, the sonic said you were human. With traces of non-typical human…you didn't. That would be stupid, of course you didn't."</p><p>"You would do it. Did do it."</p><p>"I'm a Time Lord!" He protested. "I stood a chance of surviving. And you've got human DNA, it wouldn't have worked."</p><p>"Yeah," Harriet said. "What were you thinking?"</p><p>"The Judoon scanners thought I was non-human. Because I'm from another universe."</p><p>The Doctor ran his hand through his hair yet again. "No, no, no, no, no. Not another universe. You don't have the void particles, it's mathematically impossible."</p><p>"You say that a lot, and it turns out to not be," April pointed out.</p><p>"But…oh. Of course. You thought… That wouldn't have <em>worked</em>, though."</p><p>"Why not?" Harriet asked. "If the scanners thought she wasn't human…"</p><p>"Parallel worlds," the Doctor explained, "and Alternate Universes, can be very different from one another. For a moment, imagine I believe that you did come from another universe. It would have to have split off a long, long time ago for human development to have been sufficiently different here that your DNA does not fall within the realm of normal human variation."</p><p>"Huh?" Harriet said.</p><p>"Humans evolve slowly. Your DNA wouldn't be different enough."</p><p>"Then how come the scanner thought I was non-human?" April asked.</p><p>"The faster a species reproduces, the faster the individual generations are cleared away for the next, allowed to pass on their genes, the faster a species' genes mutate, evolve. Humans have too long of a lifespan to have changed much over the years. But what does evolve fast enough? Go on," he said, as if he was a teacher encouraging his pupil.</p><p>"Rabbits?" Harriet asked.</p><p>April laughed, for a moment. It felt good. "Sorry," she apologized, sheepishly.</p><p>"No, faster. Something that you carry around with you, that the Judoon would pick up on."</p><p>"Bacteria!" April said triumphantly. "But they'd know that's different, right?"</p><p>"Animals are full of bacteria, in our stomach, on our skin, everywhere." That was one of the things that while April knew in theory, she really preferred not to think about. "You practically <em>are</em> a collection of bacteria, soaked in water with some carbon. Plus, a small percentage of protein and amino acids and other biological material."</p><p>"So, it wouldn't have worked," April said slowly. "I would've given my life for nothing."</p><p>"Yes. But you didn't know. Senseless sacrifice…" They walked in silence for a little while before the Doctor darted off into another room.</p><p>"What's he doing?" Harriet asked, leaning against the wall. April shrugged.</p><p>"I think that's the 'little shop'." A minute later, the Doctor exited with a banana and two small bottles of orange juice.</p><p>"They had a little shop!" He gushed. "I love a little shop!" The Doctor handed the orange juices to the two girls. "For the blood loss," he explained. "Otherwise you'll feel lightheaded and dizzy."</p><p>By the time they made it to the TARDIS, April was utterly exhausted. Outside, there wasn't anything to lean on, and all her running from earlier was catching up with her. "Prepare to be amazed," he said, unlocking the doors to the police box. April couldn't help but stare at it in wonder. This was the TARDIS, a transdimentional entity capable of time travel, space travel, maintaining paradoxes, and practically anything it wanted.</p><p>"We know what it looks like," Harriet pointed out. And then he opened the door.</p><p>Doctor Who made the TARDIS look amazing, but this was beyond amazing. The walls glowed with a soft orange light, the hexagons covering the room emitting faint, humming vibrations. The golden-brown coral struts glittered as they stretched up towards the ceiling, supporting the room and framing the central platform. Beneath the grating, April could see wires and shimmering lights, blinking and flashing as the ship came to life. The console gave off a bright blue light, both soothing and electric at the same time. The Time Rotor shone too, mystical and full of the feel of magic, stretching up to the ceiling as a grand centerpiece. Cables hung, draped across the coral struts and all connected to the top of the Time Rotor, providing power and energy.</p><p>April was speechless. This was the TARDIS, the real, true TARDIS. And she was in it. "So," the Doctor said, spinning around. "What do you think?" Even to the not-companions whom he didn't entirely trust, he couldn't resist showing off.</p><p>"It's beautiful," Harriet said in wonder.</p><p>"Yeah," April agreed faintly. The Doctor ran up to the console.</p><p>"Don't touch anything—well, grab ahold of one of the coral struts, don't touch the console. Controls are isomorphic."</p><p>"No, they aren't," April said.</p><p>"'course not," he frowned. "Why would they be isomorphic?"</p><p>"You just—"</p><p>"It was a test. Figure out how much you know."</p><p>"You said you knew some people who could tell you about us," April said. "Who are they?"</p><p>"Have you ever heard of the Logopolitans?" The Doctor asked.</p><p>"Yes," Harriet said, "but they don't exist anymore."</p><p>"Were those the ones from Logopolis?" April asked Harriet. "The math ones who were disintegrated?" Harriet nodded.</p><p>"Logopolis was destroyed in the year 1981," the Doctor said sadly. "It was partially my fault. If I…"</p><p>"It wasn't your fault," Harriet said quickly. April stayed quiet—he was right, if he had killed the Master or even let him die the many times he'd had a chance, then a third of the universe wouldn't have been destroyed.</p><p>The Doctor paused for a moment, then his mood quickly turned back to cheerful, although this time, it was much more obviously a mask. "The fantastic thing about time travel is that just because you know they died, that doesn't mean that they can't still be alive whenever you want! Logopolis, 1954 CE."</p><p>"Aren't you going to pick up Martha Jones?" Harriet asked. "I mean, aren't you going to offer her a trip?" April froze. If their presence meant that the Doctor never took on Martha Jones as a companion, brave brilliant Martha Jones, then the world could end up destroyed by the Family of Blood or ruled by The Master.</p><p>"Possibly," the Doctor said thoughtfully. "She did save my life. Once I figure you two out." April was disappointed that she'd never meet Martha Jones, but at least he was trying to get them home. Or would be, when he found that they were telling the truth.</p><p>The Doctor pressed a few buttons and flipped some switches, programming in the space-time coordinates. "Ready?"</p><p>"Ready," Harriet said.</p><p>"Ready," April echoed.</p><p>The Doctor grinned. "Hold on tight!" He pulled a lever as the TARDIS began to shake. April shrieked, clutching one of the coral struts. Harriet fell down, thrown against the console. "The blue button!" He yelled.</p><p>"What about the blue button?" Harriet screamed back, falling into a green lever covered in what appeared to be pink duct tape.</p><p>"No, no, no, no!" The Doctor leaped across the room, turning the lever back to its previous setting and fiddling with a dial. "April! Blue button! Press it!" April struggled over to the console, but she fell flat on the grating as the ship shook again. She could feel the metal pressing itself into her hands and gritted her teeth in pain. Pulling herself up, she searched for a blue button, finding a large one sticking out from the console. "No!" The Doctor yelled.</p><p>"Me?" April said, fighting against gravity as the TARDIS pitched backwards.</p><p>"Not that button!"</p><p>"It's blue!"</p><p>"The other blue button!" Harriet slammed her fist on the nearest blue button, a tiny one. The Doctor grabbed the mallet from one of his transdimensional pockets and whacked the console. Sparks showered him and April in the face. Quickly, April shielded her eyes, but strangely enough they didn't hurt.</p><p>Then there was the sound of the TARDIS materializing, a wheezing groaning sound, the most beautiful sound in the universe. The TARDIS stopped rocking, and the three collapsed against the console, laughing and thoroughly relieved. A moment later, the Doctor recovered. "Outside these doors," he said, smiling again, "is Logopolis."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Logopolis</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Finally, the protagonists are about to get some answers, but they may not like what they hear.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Then there was the sound of the TARDIS materializing, a wheezing groaning sound, the most beautiful sound in the universe. The TARDIS stopped rocking, and the three collapsed against the console, laughing and thoroughly relieved. A moment later, the Doctor recovered. "Outside these doors," he said, smiling again, "is Logopolis."</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>"We're going to another planet," Harriet said. "I can't believe it. We're gonna see aliens."</p><p>"Yeah," April said, trying to smile. Her mind was stuck thinking about everything that had happened during the show. It was all real. Here, a third of the universe had been destroyed. Whole galaxies and species had been lost in the Time War. And if things didn't go properly, the remaining two thirds of the universe could be gone by the end of the year.</p><p>The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors and stepped out onto the dusty surface of a whole new planet. Behind him came Harriet and April, staring at the new world in awe. It looked incredibly similar to Earth, but it was clearly different. Just as the Doctor had been able to tell in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship that the beach was not located on Earth purely by smell, the two girls were utterly certain that this could not be Earth they had lived their entire lives on at all.</p><p>The air felt slightly too thick and the gravity was a little bit wrong, pulling them down and making them feel as if they were carrying an extra twenty pounds of weight. The world smelled like dust and sand with a little too much salt in the air, and the oxygen levels were slightly higher than Earth normal. "This is so weird," April said, smiling.</p><p>"They'd think Earth was the weird planet," the Doctor said, affronted. "Now, follow me, and not a word about the future."</p><p>"We're not stupid," April was offended.</p><p>"You two seem very anxious to tell me about my future."</p><p>"Well," April reasoned, trying to rationalize telling the Doctor how to prevent all the deaths that would come, "you already know what happened. You come from their future, you can't give them spoilers. But we're from a different dimension, we can give you information about people's pasts and hypothetical situations, because they haven't actually happened. Like," she said, suddenly remembering the perfect example. "You told Pete Tyler to keep an eye on Harriet Jones, right? Information from another dimension, not future knowledge. And you can change their future so that she doesn't blow up anyone."</p><p>The Doctor frowned. "Universe," he corrected. "Parallel Universe. And you're not from one, because it's impossible. No void particles, and all the other universes were recently cut off. Not even a signal could get through. More likely you're a genetic experiment, some new type of time-sensitive, or lying to me."</p><p>"We're not lying to you!" Harriet protested. "We want to stop people from dying."</p><p>"And you're not the expert at this. I spent centuries learning the rules of time at the Academy, and I will tell you what's safe to say. Whoever you are, you are my responsibility, and I will not have you endangering this universe," the Doctor said coldly. April resisted the urge to shrink away, curl in on herself. <em>This is just the Doctor</em>, she reminded herself. <em>The Doctor's the hero, he'll figure out that you're from another universe and send you back.</em></p><p><em>But what if he can't</em>, a small voice piped up. <em>What if the walls of the universe were sealed just after you entered and I can't return? Just my luck, stuck in a parallel universe just as my own is blocked off forever. </em>April's thoughts raced. What if that voice was right? What if it was too late and she was stuck here?</p><p>"April!" Harriet called. "You coming?"</p><p>"Yeah," April said, straightening her glasses as she caught up with her friend and the Doctor. "Please tell me we're not going to do much running."</p><p>"There's always running!" The Doctor said. "But it should be at a minimum. Just a quick check on where you're from and then we're off!"</p><p>"To be fair," Harriet said. "Last time you came here to just do a quick fix on the Chameleon Circuit."</p><p>"That wasn't the most recent time. And anyway, the cloister bells were ringing," said the Doctor. "I knew something was wrong."</p><p>"You're not trying to run from anything now, are you?" April asked nervously.</p><p>"I'm always running from something," the Doctor said. "But nothing in particular right now." April looked out at the light brown landscape, hills and miniature cliffs along with barren plains.</p><p>"What do they eat here?" April asked curiously. "Doesn't seem to be much in the way of plants and stuff."</p><p>"Lithium," he answered. "Not every species requires sucrose for sustenance."</p><p>"Seriously?" Harriet said. The Doctor nodded. They were approaching the giant spiral of houses, each building fitted with alcoves for the Logopolitans to sit with their abacuses. As they entered the spiral, a group of Logopolitans came out to greet them. All of them looked identical to her, although for all she knew they thought humans all looked identical. They had large white hair with a goatee, and they wore orange robes with a black garment as a sort-of jacket.</p><p>"My dear Doctor," said the leader, stepping forwards. "Logopolis is honored by your visit."</p><p>"You've come here in this incarnation before?" April asked, unable to help herself. The Doctor seemed pleased that she hadn't known this, and she hoped that it would help convince him of the truth. He nodded.</p><p>"The honor is ours," he said.</p><p>"Welcome. Time has changed little for me, Doctor. We persist in our simple existence here. But you have travelling companions, now, roaming the Universe with you."</p><p>"How long do Logopolis people live for?" April asked, still full of questions.</p><p>"Logopolitans, and up to three centuries," the Doctor said, keeping his attention on the leader.</p><p>"This is the Monitor?" Harriet asked. No one answered her question.</p><p>"Please don't mention this visit when I return," the Doctor said.</p><p>"Of course, of course," said the Monitor. "And what brings you here, Doctor?"</p><p>"This is April and Harriet, and they're claiming to be from another universe. I came to ask your help in determining their origin."</p><p>"It would be a pleasure to aid in your research. Do you have their dimensions?" The Doctor handed over his sonic screwdriver.</p><p>"Is that enough? It feels…somewhat rude to take out a measuring tape and start measuring their 14th dimensional presence." Harriet giggled, and April continued to look around as the many Logopolitans huddled in the alcoves.</p><p>"Those dimensions are sufficient," the Monitor said formally, leading them through the passage and into a building at the center of the spiral. They entered a large room, but instead of the replica of the Pharos Project that was there during the TV episodes, the walls and floor were covered what looked like a blackboard except beige. It was covered in orange symbols and mathematical equations far beyond April's comprehension.</p><p>"Why don't they have computers?" April asked. She was certain that there was an in-story reason but couldn't quite remember it.</p><p>"Block transfer computation is a complex discipline, way beyond the capabilities of simple machines. It requires all the subtleties of the living mind. Is that not so, Doctor?" The Monitor said, taking a seat by a small table. There were a few other seats in the room, all brown and made of some strange kind of soft stone. April and Harriet took a them, thoroughly exhausted.</p><p>April wondered why the Doctor had brought them straight here, instead of letting them rest first. Either he didn't recognize how tired they were and how abnormal their whole ordeal was, or he thought that they were dangerous. And April was more inclined to believe the second one, however wrong it was.</p><p>The Monitor sat down, a strange black pencil in his hand, and closed his eyes. Then he began to chant, and outside, April could hear the faint echo of his words—no, numbers—amongst the people of Logopolis. "Keree per denesta octa der octa zarel gorok gorok per septel denesta der keree gorok gorok zel octa noner keree keree septel octa zarel gorok per pentre octa der septel septel pentre gorok per gorok zel per octa noner zel…"</p><p>Tired as she was, April couldn't help but think about what he was saying. Either 'zarel' or 'zel' had to be zero. 'Octa', 'noner', 'septl', and 'pentre' were likely 8, 9, 7, and 5. But she wasn't sure what gorok, der, per, denesta, and keree were. "What do those numbers mean, Doctor?" She asked. He motioned for her to be quiet, so she continued to watch the monitor, trying not to fall asleep.</p><p>A few minutes later, his eyes snapped open and he stood up, handing the sheet of paper to the Doctor. "I would appreciate if you could use your TARDIS to complete the calculations," he said. "My people have other matters to attend to."</p><p>"Thank you," the Doctor said. "Come on, you two. Back to the TARDIS." They left the room, walking back through the dusty streets wordlessly until they reached the blue police telephone box. "I just need to plug this into her calculation matrix," he said, motioning for them to enter the ship first. They did, again staring in wonder at it.</p><p>"The TARDIS can do Block Transfer Calculations?" Harriet asked as the Doctor spun the screen around to face him. He nodded, plugging the numbers in. Then he stood back, watching as the screen turned blue.</p><p>"How much should we tell him about Yana?" April muttered to Harriet, making sure to stay well out of earshot.</p><p>"Everything," Harriet said.</p><p>"But what if he dies in the year 100 trillion?" April asked. "Stays behind and dies."</p><p>"That's good," Harriet responded. "Obviously."</p><p>"No, but without Missy he wouldn't meet Clara," April argued. "Shouldn't we try to stick as close to cannon as possible?"</p><p>"Easy to say if you're not Danny Pink. Or Martha or Jack. Or anyone he's hurt." Harriet said.</p><p>"I just don't want to mess everything up," April said. "What if, in trying to help, we just make it worse?" She knew, though, that she should tell him. But she didn't want to make that decision without considering its consequences in length.</p><p>"Got it!" The Doctor said triumphantly. April and Harriet walked over to see the results on the screen. For some odd reason, April felt nervous. <em>Why?</em> She wondered. <em>I know what he's going to see.</em> The Doctor spun around the console with the screen, looking at it intently. A few seconds later, he looked over at them.</p><p>"Well?" Harriet said. "Believe us now?"</p><p>"You don't know," he said, running his hands through his hair. "You really don't…"</p><p>"What?" April asked slowly, terror dawning within her. What if she was wrong and her memories weren't real, what if everything she believed was just a well-constructed lie, what if…</p><p>"You're native," the Doctor said. "Never traveled between universes, and your matter belongs in this one."</p><p>"That's impossible," Harriet said, crossing her arms. April stared at the screen in shock. "Just…no way. I remember my life."</p><p>"You do," he agreed. "Everything seems to point towards your memories being real…filled with emotions, small quirky little stories…and they're even connected with the show. Real, human lives. So very human. You've got a fully fleshed out backstory, it's just…fake."</p><p>"My past isn't fake!" April yelled, backing away towards the door.</p><p>"I'm so, so sorry," the Doctor said, "but it is, you've always lived here. And there's no such thing as Doctor Who."</p><p>"You're saying we remember a show that never existed," Harriet said passionately. "It was a giant part of all of our lives. I watched it with my friends, laughed at it, cried with it. You can't explain how I know all this stuff…and it turned out to be true. I'm not from this universe. Your math was wrong."</p><p>"It's real!" April said. "Don't tell me it isn't."</p><p>"So, you want me to lie?" The Doctor asked, frustrated. "You're from here, and I don't know how you got those memories, but I'll do my best to figure it out."</p><p>"I won't become just another stupid mystery for you to solve," April shouted, well-aware that she was crying again. She backed towards the door, wanting to open it and run across the dusty landscape. Wanting to demand that the Monitor do his calculations again, get it right. Wanting to just escape from this nightmare, because the Doctor was <em>wrong</em>! <em>This</em> had to be the fake one, the one that wasn't real!</p><p>She collapsed against the door, tears trickling down her face, and Harriet ran over to her. The Doctor stayed where he was, watching from afar. "April," Harriet said. "April, listen to me, we'll figure this out."</p><p>"I know," she said, wiping her face. "Urg, I'm just a stupid cry-baby. Why am I even crying? This is supposed to be great!"</p><p>"Whichever is right…our memories or the Doctor—" Harriet began, trying to cheer her up.</p><p>"Don't say that!" April said. "It's different for you. No siblings, parents never around. I love my family. And now I'm being told they're a figment of my imagination. Fake. Non-existent. They're real, Harriet, I can remember them, and they're so very real."</p><p>"And they could be," the Doctor said, coming over to stand by them. "Just because you're from here and the show is fake doesn't mean that your family doesn't exist."</p><p>"Will you find them?" April asked, suddenly embarrassed. She was on the freaking TARDIS, and she was crying.</p><p>"I'll do my best," the Doctor said. "But first, you look tired. Both of you."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Martha Jones</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Picking up Martha, April begins to prepare for her and Harriet's first adventure in the TARDIS.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When woke up, it took April a moment to remember where she was. In the Doctor's TARDIS, in another universe (no matter what the Doctor said, she knew her memories had to be real), and who knows how far from home. She closed her eyes for a moment, wishing that this was all just a dream, and then opened them again. Nope, still not dreaming. Slowly, April got up, looking around the room. It was the same color as the walls in the console room, with a soft blue floor and a blue lamp by the fluffy blue bed.</p><p>April made her way to the console room, where she found the Doctor and Harriet chewing on bananas. Harriet was wearing a bright green shirt with jeans and had tied her two braids with green hairbands. On her hand, she wore a watch, although now that they were time travelers, she didn't see the point in it. "Bananas are good," the Doctor explained, and both girls giggled.</p><p>"I'm sorry for yelling yesterday," April said, just to make sure that the Doctor wasn't angry at her.</p><p>The Doctor looked confused for a moment. "Doesn't matter. So," he said, getting up from the beige chair where he had been sitting. "I already talked with Harriet about this, but she said that she was waiting to talk with you. Whatever's going on with you, it won't be easily found out. I looked on Earth for descriptions of your family, but I couldn't find anything. Now," he said, before April could contradict him, "that doesn't mean that they're not real. They could have easily been purged from the records, if whoever did this to you is smart enough, and they probably are."</p><p>"No one changed my memories," April said, frustrated. "I know what I remember. Doctor Who was a giant part of my life."</p><p>"It would be possible to take a similar sci-fi show and replace it with Doctor Who," the Doctor said. April paused. <em>That would explain how I have all these memories associated with it and came from this—</em></p><p><em>No</em>, she told herself. <em>Stop it. He's wrong, this is all real.</em> "What about the bacteria?" She asked herself. "We're not from here, or else we'd have the right microorganisms inside us. And really, Judoon scanners would have to be pretty weird to mistake me for those things, so they've got to be really different, right?"</p><p>"I don't know," the Doctor said, pacing around the TARDIS console.</p><p>"You could analyze them?" Harriet suggested.</p><p>"Wait—if we've got the wrong bacteria, how do you know we won't get sick here?" April asked.</p><p>"Oh, you'll be fine," the Doctor said, waving his hand. "TARDIS'll take care of that. She normally does, except in the case of certain engineered viruses, or when she's broken, or the few times when she just doesn't."</p><p>That didn't sound too reassuring. "But bacteria samples, right?" April said.</p><p>"Right. Yes. Readings. Should take the TARDIS about thirty-six hours to analyze them; I already started after Logopolis. Whatever's going on," he said, "we will find the answer. I promise. In the meantime, you have to be protected. However you found out about my timeline, people would kill for that knowledge."</p><p>"He's right," Harriet said.</p><p>"Yeah, I know," April said, thinking. She didn't know how anyone could possibly find out about their memories of Doctor Who, but if they did, any number of aliens could want to capture them to defeat the Doctor. "So, you're going to say we have to go with you."</p><p>"No," the Doctor said quietly. "I wouldn't force anyone to come with me. Not unless it was absolutely necessary," he amended. "You will be safest if you come with me, but I can't promise you that you won't get hurt. I have to help people, and the TARDIS always seems to land where there's trouble. But you really will be safer here." He paused for a moment. "If you want, though, I can drop you off with UNIT. However, it's a government organization, and therefore…"</p><p>"Leaks like a colander," April finished. <em>So, what do I do?</em> April wondered. <em>Travel with the alien that goes looking for trouble, or stay at a government agency where sooner or later I'll be taken captive by evil aliens who want me to betray the universe? </em>It wasn't even a choice. And anyway, April didn't think she would ever forgive herself if she gave up this opportunity. "Harriet?"</p><p>"I think we should go with him," Harriet said. "Take this chance. And he figures stuff out on his adventures. He can help us. But I won't go without you." She paused, staring at the glowing time rotor. "You're my only friend left."</p><p>April took a deep breath. "I'll come."</p><p>"I can't promise you'll be safe," the Doctor warned.</p><p>"You said we'd be saf<em>er</em> with you," Harriet said.</p><p>"You will," he promised. "Well, then. Where too? Oh, and rules. Rule number one, don't wander off. Period. With normal companions, I'd relax it a bit, but I can't risk losing sight of you two. For your own good." April had always hated that phrase. 'For your own good' was always used to justify doing something wrong. "Two, and this is almost as important: no telling the future. Or the past. Your knowledge is not to be used at all, even when you think you could make things better."</p><p>"But people are going to die!" Harriet protested, crossing her arms.</p><p>"Yes," the Doctor said. "Do you think I don't know that? But you don't know what you're doing, and your knowledge is from our universe. It's. Not. Safe." He said forcefully. "Do you understand?" April nodded nervously. What if she slipped up?</p><p>"I understand it's dangerous," Harriet said slowly, "but if we don't do something, then people will get hurt."</p><p>"Their blood will be on our hands," April said quietly, wanting to support her friend, but scared that the Doctor was going to explode. <em>He's just the Doctor</em>, she reminded herself.</p><p><em>The Oncoming Storm</em>, said that tiny, annoying voice.</p><p>"I know!" The Doctor yelled. He braced himself against the console, looking down at the shining blue light and taking a deep breath. "You're human," he said derisively. "You wouldn't understand. I am a Time Lord from Gallifrey. I am nine hundred and two years old, and I can see Time swirling around us, weaving itself into impossible paradoxes. I can see it winding its way around you two, timelines tying themselves around yours. If you make a mistake, the universe will suffer. So, I need you to trust me when I tell you that it's not safe. Because if you don't, if you cause an impossible paradox and break the laws of time or destroy the universe, then young or not, child or not, unknowing or not, you will have me to answer to."</p><p>April had backed away, her heart pounding. She nearly tripped over the chairs, trying to get away. This wasn't the Doctor. And this wasn't the Oncoming Storm or the Time Lord Victorious either. Those would be worse, so much worse. But even now, she was scared out of her wits. For the first time it struck her that this was not just a happy-go-lucky, quirky alien going on adventures. This was a complicated space-time event, full of power and knowledge and able to make demons run at the sound of his name.</p><p>"So, listen to me, and listen to me closely," the Doctor said, looking each of them in the eyes. "When you travel with me, you follow my rules, or I drop you off with UNIT. Mistakes are understandable, but if you knowingly tell anyone anything about the future. You will not mention anything you know anymore to anyone except yourselves, whether it's the color of my previous incarnation's shoes or the entire backstory of the alien trying to destroy Earth unless I, with knowledge of the inner workings of time, ask you to. Now, I ask you again, do you understand?" He said coldly.</p><p>April nodded, adrenaline rushing through her as if she was preparing to run. Shakily, she peeled herself off the coral strut that she had backed into.</p><p>"Sorry," Harriet said quietly, looking down at her feet.</p><p>Slowly, the coldness and anger slipped away from the Time Lord's eyes, and he was the Doctor again, just the Doctor. "Rule number three," he said matter-of-factly, "is no bringing knowledge about the future that you get travelling with me back to the past. No doors in your head." April would have laughed, but somehow it wasn't funny. "Rule number four is that if I tell you to do something, you listen to me. If I ask you to run, you have to run." Both girls nodded. "Right." He smiled again. "I needed to make sure you understood. Your knowledge is dangerous. It shouldn't exist. But if you follow the rules, there shouldn't be any problems."</p><p>"What if…" April said slowly, not wanting to draw his ire. "What if aliens from Planet A are vulnerable to substance B, which we know from watching the show."</p><p>"April," the Doctor said, "there isn't any show."</p><p>"Fine," she said, "which we know from our knowledge that we think is the show. If we're being attacked by aliens from Planet A, can we use substance B or are we expected to die?"</p><p>"Yes. Most of the time. Well, not necessarily, but in that case it would be even worse if you died, so yes. You can use your knowledge. But don't draw attention to it, and please, try not to disrupt the causal nexus if you can help it." There was a pause. "Any questions?" April shook her head.</p><p>"No," Harriet said. "But don't you owe Martha a trip? She saved your life."</p><p>"Yep," the Doctor said cheerfully, "I suppose she did. One trip, though," he said. "And one trip only."</p>
<hr/><p>It was night out, and six people were arguing on the street. The Doctor, Harriet, and April stood at the corner, watching them.</p><p>"Oh, I'm never talking to your family again!" One of them said, storming off. <em>Martha's dad's newest girlfriend</em>, April remembered.</p><p>"Oh, stay. Have a night out with Clive," Francine, Martha's mother, said.</p><p>"Don't you dare. I'm putting my foot down."</p><p>"You coming?" The girlfriend asked.</p><p>"This is me, putting my foot down," Clive said, following her away.</p><p>"Doing it for the last twenty-five years!" Francine shouted after him.</p><p>"Please," Clive said.</p><p>"Clive, stop, now!"</p><p>"Mum, don't. I—" Francine, Leo, and Tish ran after Clive and his girlfriend. Martha looked at them leaving, then turned around to see the three time-travelers on the street corner. They backed away, and she followed them back to the TARDIS.</p><p>"You're okay?" Martha asked April and Harriet.</p><p>"Yeah," April said, smiling. It was hard to smile. <em>Stop it, you get to travel with the Doctor. How awesome is that?</em></p><p><em>And I might never see my family again.</em> The smile slid off her face.</p><p>
  <em>Shut up.</em>
</p><p>"I went to the moon today," Martha said, turning to the Doctor.</p><p>"A bit more peaceful than down here," the Doctor said.</p><p>"You never even told me who you are," she said. "And you didn't really either," she added, turning to April and Harriet.</p><p>"The Doctor," he said. "April, Harriet."</p><p>"What sort of species? It's not every day I get to ask that."</p><p>"It doesn't matter," the Doctor said, and April frowned. He was supposed to tell her, but something about their presence there had changed that. "I just thought since you saved my life, you might fancy a trip. Just one, as a sort of thank you."</p><p>"And you two travel with him?" Martha asked. The conversation was changing a lot now. <em>I'm not going to be able to keep them the same</em>, April decided.</p><p>"Yeah," Harriet said, "but we just started. Right after the hospital fiasco. Only gone on one trip."</p><p>"Well?" The Doctor said.</p><p>"You want me to travel into space with you three?" She asked.</p><p>"Well," the Doctor said again.</p><p>"But I can't," Martha said. "I've got exams. I've got things to do. I have to go into town first thing and pay the rent, I've got my family going mad." April withheld a sigh of relief. The conversation was back on track, but she didn't want to make it seem like she didn't want Martha along. Martha Jones, doctor in training who saved the world countless times. Of course, Martha had to come. If she didn't, then April and Harriet would have to take her place, and even with knowledge of the show, April didn't think she could. <em>The woman who walked the Earth.</em> April would have to prevent that year from happening somehow.</p><p>"If it helps," the Doctor grinned, "I can travel in time as well."</p><p>"Get out of here," Martha said, laughing.</p><p>"I can. Tell her," he said to Harriet.</p><p>"Come on now, that's going too far." She paused. "Can he?"</p><p>"Yeah," Harriet grinned mischievously. "I think she's gonna want proof, Doctor."</p><p>"You three, wait outside." He stepped into his TARDIS, closing the door behind him. In a moment, the TARDIS dematerialized. Martha reached into the space where it was.</p><p>"You went off with an alien?" Martha said.</p><p>"What else were we gonna do?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"You should come," April told her. "You—"</p><p>"I what?"</p><p>She had been going to say 'You won't regret it'. But she would, and April couldn't stand lying. At least, she would if April didn't find any way to change the future. The TARDIS began to materialize, and the Doctor stepped out, holding his tie.</p><p>"Told you," the Doctor said.</p><p>"No…get out of here. That was this morning! Did you? Oh, my god, you did! You can travel in time! But hold on. If you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go in to work?" She asked.</p><p>"Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden," he said formally. "Except for cheap tricks," he amended. "Besides, if you didn't go in, I wouldn't be here to tell you not to, and time would correct back to this, the stable loop. If we were lucky."</p><p>"And what if we weren't?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"Then time attempt to clean the wound." <em>Reapers</em>, April thought. That was what could happen if she or Harriet made a mistake. No wonder the Doctor was so angry when they talked about sharing their future knowledge.</p><p><em>Stop it</em>, she told herself. <em>It's not dangerous, the Doctor just thinks it is. I'm from a parallel universe. Or at least my knowledge is. Maybe I went through some sort of matter conversion?</em></p><p>"And that's your spaceship?" Martha wondered.</p><p>"It's called the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space."</p><p>"Your spaceship's made of wood," Martha said in disbelief. "There's not much room, we couldn't all possibly fit."</p><p>"Take a look," April said, stepping in. Harriet and the Doctor followed, and then Martha entered behind them.</p><p>"No, no, no." Martha ran out, then back in. "How does it do that? It's wood! It's like a box with that room just rammed in. It's bigger on the inside!" April couldn't help but giggle, and she saw Harriet doing the same.</p><p>"Is it?" The Doctor said, mouthing the words along with her. "I hadn't noticed." He shut the door. "Right then, let's get going."</p><p>"Are you the crew?" Martha asked the two girls. "Like, navigator and stuff? I thought you were human."</p><p>"We are," April said, "and we've got no clue how to pilot this thing."</p><p>"So, it's just you, then, controlling your ship."</p><p>"Just me," the Doctor said. "Just one trip to say thanks," he clarified. "You get one trip, then back home. I'd rather be on my own."</p><p>"Well, you wouldn't be," she pointed out.</p><p>"They've got to come," he said.</p><p>"Why?" Martha asked. "You didn't force them, did you, 'cos if you did, that's not alright, alien or not."</p><p>"He asked us," April assured her. "We'd be in danger if we stayed." She saw the Doctor's warning look. <em>Right. He doesn't want Martha to know about this? I don't see why. I guess the more people who know the truth, the more dangerous it is. Natural, I guess. Martha could slip or something, but she wouldn't. At least, I don't think she would. She's Martha Jones. She managed to trick the Master, she wouldn't accidentally betray us. But still. The Doctor doesn't know that. </em>"I mean," April said quickly, "randomly appeared in the middle of London, and we're American. People might think we're aliens and want to dissect us or something. But he didn't make us come. The Doctor wouldn't do that. He's good." <em>You're trying to convince yourself.</em></p><p>
  <em>No, I'm not. I'm already convinced.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Great, so now we're ignoring evidence?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What evidence? "The Doctor was scary?" Come on, that's not evidence in the slightest. He's a Time Lord, of course you're going to feel intimidated. It has nothing to do with his morality.</em>
</p><p>"When I find out what's going on, if they're safe, then I'll drop them off," he said quietly. "They can have a normal life. No more danger."</p><p>"And you'll be all on your own again?" Martha asked, obviously feeling bad.</p><p>"Well, sometimes I have guests. I mean some friends, travelling alongside. I had. But one trip, so make it count. Well, then," he grinned, fiddling with the controls. "Welcome aboard, Miss Jones."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Witchcraft</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The year is 1599, and the Carrionites are beginning their plot to take over the world. Meanwhile, April acts against her better judgement in an attempt to save the Master of the Revel's life.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I promised you one trip," said the Doctor, walking towards the door as the three girls recovered from the bumpy ride. "Outside this door, brave new world."</p><p>"Where are we?" Martha asked the Doctor.</p><p>"Take a look. After you." The two stepped out of the TARDIS.</p><p>"What if we die?" April asked Harriet, who was standing by the door.</p><p>"We'll be fine," Harriet laughed. "Don't you wanna see Shakespeare?" April put on a smile. It would be really exciting, and if she was going to go travelling around with the Doctor, she might as well make the most of it. Even if it did mean she would have to deal with evil alien witches. Taking a deep breath, April stepped out into the world.</p><p>It was night, and the streets were bustling with people, wearing dresses and old-fashioned suits, though April supposed some would be considered the latest new fashion at the time. The smell of horses permeated the air. April could hear whinnying in the background as people bartered at the marketplace and urchins ran through the streets. Torches lit up the city, their glow warming the air and giving it a cheerful atmosphere.</p><p>"Oh, you are kidding me," Martha said. "You are so kidding me. Oh, my god, we did it. We travelled in time. Where are we? No, sorry. I gotta get used to this whole new language. When are we?" April and Harriet smiled. They had travelled in time before, yes, to get to Logopolis, but it felt different. This was Earth at a different time. A whole new world, and right there in their past.</p><p>"Mind out," the Doctor said, pulling Martha back as a man emptied a bucket from a window. April and Harriet had both made sure to get out of the way beforehand.</p><p>"Watch the water!" Someone shouted. April could've sworn that they'd spoken in French during the show. She remembered arguing with one of her brothers about whether it made sense for Martha to hear a different language. <em>TARDIS translation circuit</em>, she reminded herself.</p><p>"It's like in the films," Martha was saying. "You step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race."</p><p>"Tell you what, then," the Doctor said, rushing forwards. "Don't step on any butterflies. What have butterflies ever done to you?"</p><p>"It won't cause a problem," Harriet assured her.</p><p>"And this is London?" Martha said, catching up with the Doctor.</p><p>"I think so," he said. "Round about 1599."</p><p>"Oh, but hold on," Martha said. "Am I alright? I'm not going to get carted off as a slave, am I?"</p><p>"There's got to be some sort of perception filter or something," April said, hoping to avoid the Doctor's insensitive answer.</p><p>"Humans tend to ignore anything that doesn't fit in with their worldview," he said. "Just walk about like you own the place. Works for me." April could see Harriet cringe. "Besides," he said, either ignoring her or not realizing Martha's discomfort, "you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time. Look over there. They've got recycling. Water cooler moment. Global warming. Oh, yes, and entertainment. Popular entertainment for the masses. If I'm right, we're just down the river by Southwark, right next to—"</p><p>He pulled them along until they could see it. "Oh, yes, the Globe Theatre! Brand new. Just opened. Though, strictly speaking, it's not a globe, it's a tetradecagon. Fourteen sides. Containing the man himself."</p><p>"Whoa, you don't mean."</p><p>"We get to meet Shakespeare!" Harriet said, bouncing up and down. <em>For the older one, Harriet can sometimes act much less mature</em>, thought April.</p><p>"Well, would you like to take a look?" The Doctor asked them.</p><p>"Shakespeare," Martha said, shaking her head. "Oh, my god, we can see Shakespeare!" April followed as they walked towards the theatre, nervous about what was to come. If she could persuade the Master of the Revels not to cancel the show, he wouldn't be killed. Or if she could do something about Lilith…but would the Doctor get upset with her for acting on future knowledge? Convincing the Master of the Revels to let the play happen would work; she would just be excited to see something lost to history, in the Doctor's eyes. He wouldn't know that she was trying to change things.</p><p><em>No</em>, said a voice inside of her, somehow convinced in its truth. <em>He would, he would somehow. Do you really think you could trick him? For once, April, you're not the most intelligent person around, it's the Doctor, and he'll </em>know.</p><p>
  <em>There's no way he would.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And besides, the Doctor said you can't for a reason! It's not like he wants people to die. He said you could destroy the universe with a paradox.</em>
</p><p><em>I'm from another universe—it </em>wouldn't <em>cause a paradox.</em></p><p>
  <em>You don't know that.</em>
</p><p><em>Yes! I! Do! </em>Someone's life was in danger. She couldn't just stand there and let a man die, whatever stupid rules were there to stop her.</p><p>Had Mr. Stoker died, back at the hospital? She'd never asked. Did the Doctor get there in time to save him without her slowing him down? Did her advice save a life? Or had he died all the same? <em>I've got to do something</em>, April decided. But what was there to do, without breaking one of the Doctor's rules?</p><p><em>Lilith gets one of the Master of the Revel's hairs, doesn't he?</em> April realized. <em>If I can position myself to stop her…</em>She looked at Harriet, cheerfully walking along and chatting with Martha and the Doctor, meeting her heroes. But April couldn't just forget about it, let the story play out. Because Harriet had been right earlier. Harriet had been the most adamant about stopping everything that went wrong, but she had also completely dropped it. And April wasn't going to let herself do that.</p>
<hr/><p>Back at the tavern, April was sitting down at a table with Shakespeare, watching him attempt to flirt with Martha.</p><p>"Such unusual clothes. So fitted," he said, staring at her like she had a horn growing out of her head.</p><p>"Er, verily, forsooth, egads," Martha tried.</p><p>"No, no, don't do that. Don't. I'm Sir Doctor of Tardis," the Doctor said, showing Shakespeare his psychic paper. "My companion, Miss Martha Jones, and my, er, nieces, Harriet and April."</p><p>"Interesting, that bit of paper," said Shakespeare. "It's blank."</p><p>"Oh, that's very clever," grinned the Doctor. "That proves it. Absolute genius."</p><p>"No, it says right there. Our names," Martha protested.</p><p>"And I say it's blank."</p><p>"Psychic paper. Er, long story. Oh, I hate starting from scratch."</p><p>"Psychic?" Shakespeare asked, trying out the word. "Never heard that before and words are my trade. Who are you, exactly? More to the point, who is your delicious blackamoor lady?"</p><p>"What did you say?" Martha asked, affronted.</p><p>"Oops," Shakespeare said, embarrassed. "Isn't that a word, we use nowadays? An Ethiop girl? A Queen of Afric?"</p><p>"I can't believe I'm hearing this."</p><p>"It's political correctness gone mad," the Doctor said. April glanced around nervously, waiting for the Master of the Revels to arrive. "Er, Martha's from a far-off land. Freedonia." Finally, a man in expensive clothing entered the room.</p><p>"Excuse me! Hold hard a moment, this is abominable behavior. A new play with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mr. Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed."</p><p>"Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it round," Shakespeare promised.</p><p>"I don't work your schedule; you work to mine." <em>'Shedule.' I'm sure they find our way of saying it just as strange.</em> April tried giggle at his pronunciation. And she was pretty sure that the Master of the Revels noticed. "The script, now!"</p><p>"He can give it to you really quickly," April said. A pretty girl with light brown hair was spying from the shadows. "Tonight. Just a few more hours."</p><p>"I listen not to the whining of undignified women!" He said. Harriet snorted.</p><p>"But the people love his stories," April tried. "Imagine their disappointment when they discover that Loves Labors Won won't be performed! And, good sir, they would blame you, uneducated as they are."</p><p>He paused, clearly thinking about it, and April's heart filled with hope. If he didn't interfere, then he wouldn't become involved in this. And no one else would have to be hurt. This could work.</p><p>'What are you doing?' Harriet mouthed. April didn't respond.</p><p>"I heed not the likes of you!" Insisted the Master of the Revels. "I'm returning to my office for a banning order. If it's the last thing I do, Love's Labours Won will never be played!" April could see Lilith slip away as he turned on his heels and stomped down the stairs.</p><p>"I thank you, for trying," Shakespeare said, his head in his hands, "but he cannot be dissuaded."</p><p>"I have to get something," April lied, standing up. "I think I dropped my polishing cloth for my glasses on my way." <em>What are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing?</em></p><p>
  <em>I'm saving his life.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then you're an idiot!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Well, I'm not going to be a coward!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I am not going to sit here calling myself names when someone is going to die!</em>
</p><p>April hurried out before anyone could stop her, including Harriet. Rushing down the stairs, she only hoped that she would get to the courtyard in time.</p><p>"Begging your pardon, sir," Lilith was saying to the Master of the Revels.</p><p>"You!" April said. <em>'Walk around like you own the place,'</em> April remembered the Doctor saying. Straightening her shoulders, she held her chin up and looked down at Lilith like she was a creature hardly worthy of her time. "Are you not supposed to be working?"</p><p>"Of course, ma'am, sorry, ma'am, I'll be on my way, ma'am," Lilith said humbly. She looked over at the Master of the Revels, and began to reach for his hair.</p><p>"Stop!" April said forcefully. "A person of your station belongs far away from the likes of us. Do not dare presume to touch him." Lilith regarded her carefully for a moment.</p><p>"And what would your name be, ma'am?" She asked.</p><p>April opened her mouth to tell her. <em>No! What're you doing? She'll name you! </em>April caught herself just in time. "That is none of your business," April said. "Now off with you!" She watched as Lilith ran away.</p><p>"What are you doing out here?" The Master of the Revels sneered.</p><p>"I came to warn you. She is no witch, but she is dangerous all the same. Don't let her lay a finger on you."</p><p>"I need not your help or aid," he said, chin even higher in the air as he pranced off. April sighed. <em>You idiot! </em>Said that annoying voice that had been speaking up quite frequently in the past…how long had it even been? <em>What did you do?</em></p><p>
  <em>I saved his life.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>For all you know—</em>
</p><p><em>Shut up!</em> April silenced it. Hopefully the Master of the Revels would listen to her. Then she went back inside, and sat down at the table.</p><p>"You're alright!" Harriet said, smiling.</p><p>"Why wouldn't she be?" Martha asked.</p><p>The Doctor watched Harriet's worry fade away, and frowned. "Something's wrong. This isn't the only reason the play was never performed."</p><p>"Shouldn't—" Harriet began.</p><p>"Don't tell me," the Doctor insisted. "If you cause a paradox…"</p><p>"April, what did you do?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"Nothing," April said. "I got my glasses cloth."</p><p>"There's supposed to be—"</p><p>And then there was a scream. Just like there was supposed to be.</p><p>"No!" April shouted, jumping up. He hadn't listened to her, and now she was dead. Dead. Forever. <em>What was his name? </em>It was so cliched that April almost laughed in spite of herself. She had been calling him 'The Master of the Revels'. And she had tried everything she could, and he had still died. It was straight out of a storybook. Even with all of her knowledge, she still couldn't change the future.</p><p>The Doctor ran outside, his coat billowing out behind him. <em>So, what now?</em></p><p><em>We go on. More people to save. One person died, yes. And there's…plenty of people in the world that haven't.</em> The rest of the group ran out, leaving April behind in the inn. So, she took a deep breath, and then she followed them out into the night.</p><p>"This way!" The Doctor yelled.</p><p>Then there was another, higher scream. "He's dead! Oh, he's dead!" The group ran into an alleyway, where the Master of the Revels lay on the ground. But instead of his mouth gushing water, he appeared to have just…stopped.</p><p>"No," April whispered. "I stopped her, I—" She ran to the body, kneeling over it.</p><p>"Got to get the heart going," Martha said. "Mr. Lynley, come on. Can you hear me? You're going to be—" The Doctor touched her shoulder gently.</p><p>"His mind is gone."</p><p>"His mind is gone?" Martha asked faintly. "It doesn't work like that!" She began to prepare for CPR. "If I can just restart his heart—"</p><p>"He's dead," April said. "I can't believe it." She looked at his eyes, glassy, unfeeling. He hadn't deserved this. No one deserved this.</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, well, life's not fair.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Shut up, shut up, shut up!</em>
</p><p>"Watch the water!" Someone above them shouted, and April jumped back just in time to avoid the bucket of waste falling on her. It covered Mr. Lynley's body and face, soaking his well-made, old-fashioned, modern fashion clothes. Slimy, dirty water all over him, and Martha, to her credit, didn't even blink. She leaned over him to start CPR, but Shakespeare held her back.</p><p>"Get off me!" She yelled, and April reminded herself never to get in the way of a doctor and her patient.</p><p>"His soul is with God now," Shakespeare said. "And he is at peace."</p><p>"That's not how it works!" Martha yelled again. "We can save him, if you just let me go!"</p><p>"I'm so, so sorry," the Doctor said to the body. April bent down to close his eyes, ignoring the smell. She felt sick, and it wasn't the bucket of sewage. Then the Doctor turned to the woman who had screamed. "Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away."</p><p>"Yes, sir," she said, running off.</p><p>"And why are you telling him that?" Martha demanded.</p><p>"His entire psyche disappeared, wiped. He just died for no apparent reason, and his heart stopped because there was no one to keep it beating for," the Doctor frowned. "This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft."</p><p>"Okay," Martha said, calming down. "What was it then?"</p><p>The Doctor stood up, and despite everything that had happened thus far, he <em>smiled</em>. "Witchcraft."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Night at the Inn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>April and Harriet plan out their moves, but they forgot an important detail. And April's attempt to save Lynley has caught the Carrionites' attention.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Poor Lynley," Shakespeare was saying. They were sitting in Shakespeare's room, talking as they ate the food the innkeeper brought. "So many strange events. Not least of all, this land of Freedonia where a woman can be a doctor?"</p><p>"Where a woman can do what she likes," Martha said.</p><p>"And you, Sir Doctor, with nieces to whom you show no affection. How can a man so young have eyes so old?"</p><p>"Oh, they grew up in America, just met them. But I gladly watch over them for their late father," the Doctor said.</p><p>"That did not answer my question."</p><p>"I do a lot of reading," the Doctor said. April smiled in spite of herself.</p><p>"And you?" Shakespeare said, turning to Martha. "You look at him like you're surprised he exists. He's as much of a puzzle to you as he is to me."</p><p>"I think we should say goodnight," Martha said, exiting the room.</p><p>"I must work," Shakespeare said. "I have a play to complete. But I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, and I'll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours.</p><p>"All the world's a stage." Harriet snickered.</p><p>"Hmm, I might use that," Shakespeare said thoughtfully. "Goodnight, Doctor."</p><p>"Nighty night, Shakespeare." He gave Harriet and April an expression like 'I can't believe I got to say that'. Then, the three left, going to the room their room at the inn.</p><p>"It's not exactly five star, is it?" Martha said, looking around the room as she held a candle. It was small, the wood floor a light brown and the mattresses thin. April made a mental note to bring a flashlight, or torch as the Doctor would say, next time she left the TARDIS.</p><p>"Oh, it'll do. I've seen worse."</p><p>"I haven't even got a toothbrush," Martha said.</p><p>"Oh. Er." He pulled one out of his pocket, and Martha looked at it in disgust. "Contains Venusian spearmint."</p><p>"So, who's going where? I mean, there's two beds," Martha pointed out.</p><p>"April and Harriet can share," he said, then saw Martha's expression. April looked at the small bed. It would barely fit the two of them, let alone Martha as well. It looked like she was stuck with the Doctor. Urg, she didn't envy her. Although, from her friend's expression, she was pretty sure Harriet did.</p><p>"So," Martha said. "Magic and stuff. That's a surprise. It's all a bit Harry Potter. Do they read that across the pond?" She asked the two younger girls. The Doctor lay down on his and Martha's bed while April and Harriet crawled into their own.</p><p>"April keeps trying to get me to read it," Harriet said.</p><p>"It's great," April said.</p><p>"Who are you two anyway?" Martha asked. "I don't even know your surnames, just that you're kids from America."</p><p>"Harriet Taylor, from New York. I'm eighteen."</p><p>"And I'm April Storm. Seventeen years old. I—"</p><p>"Wait till you read book seven, Martha Jones," the Doctor interrupted before they could say anything more. "Oh, I cried."</p><p>"But is it real, though? I mean, witches, black magic and all that, it's real?"</p><p>"Course it isn't!" The Doctor said.</p><p>"Well, how are we supposed to know? I've only just started believing in time travel. Give me a break."</p><p>"Looks like witchcraft, but it isn't. Can't be. Are you going to stand there all night?"</p><p>"Budge up a bit then," Martha said, climbing in. She seemed as if she was going to say something, but then looked over at the other two girls and didn't.</p><p>"There's such a thing as psychic energy, but a human couldn't channel it like that. Not without a generator the size of Tauton and I think we'd have spotted that. No, there's something I'm missing. Something really close, staring me right in the face and I can't see it. Rose'd know. A friend of mine, Rose. Right now, she'd say exactly the right thing. Still, can't be helped. You're novices, never mind. And you, April, Harriet—you're just kids." He sighed. "I'll take you back home tomorrow, Martha." April grimaced at his insensitivity, watching Martha roll over and blow out the candle. And then there was darkness.</p><p>April wished that they'd turn the light back on, just until she fell asleep, but she didn't want to feel like a baby in front of one of her best friends, let alone the Doctor and Martha Jones, the powerful Time Lord and confident, capable doctor who had the skills to walk the Earth that never was and the courage to walk away. Both of them were amazing, whereas Harriet and April's only benefit in this was knowing the future—and they weren't even allowed to tell anyone. <em>Sort of like Cassandra, but instead of no one believing my words, they try to scare me into staying silent. I guess like Cassandra in that no one will listen when we say Doctor Who is a real TV Show. I wonder how that happened? </em>She sighed, trying to banish her fears, but it didn't work.</p><p><em>I saw a dead man</em>, she thought. April had seen the body of her dead dog, but never a human. <em>I tried to stop it</em>, she comforted herself. <em>I did my best, that's all there is to it.</em> But a man had died, and she felt as if a tiny portion of the naïve young girl who left New York had died with him.</p><p>
  <em>Great, we're doing clichés now.</em>
</p><p>April rolled over, willing herself to fall asleep. But she couldn't. The sight of the corpse was burned behind her eyelids, but that wasn't the worst of it. It was almost as if his death had opened the floodgates. Everyone who had ever died on TV was there, images seared into her mind. The man in The Ring, Cedric's lifeless body in Harry Potter, Rue in the Hunger Games. All dead. April felt sick. Every death in Doctor Who was real. Would be real. All those hopeless redshirts that she'd laughed at, dead. Lilith had killed someone, she remembered, a suitor who came to her house at night and sang songs to her as she watched from her window. She had killed him and laughed.</p><p>And it was real.</p><p>Back before this whole mess, April and her brothers had rolled their eyes at how typically villainous her laughter was, how the whole thing had completely failed at being scary. Now, though, it certainly wasn't failing.</p><p>"I think they're asleep," Harriet whispered. Neither other bed's occupants contradicted her. "So, what do we do? How do we fix this?"</p><p>"You were right," April said. "We can't just let it play out."</p><p>"You tried to save him, didn't you? That's why he didn't drown."</p><p>"She must've named him, I made sure she didn't get a lock of his hair."</p><p>"That was stupid," Harriet said. "You can't risk yourself like that."</p><p>"I was trying to save his life," April protested.</p><p>"Shh," Harriet said.</p><p>"I was trying to save his life," April repeated, quieter this time.</p><p>"But if the Doctor finds out…" Harriet said.</p><p>"Do you think he will?" April asked.</p><p>"No, but really, that was stupid."</p><p>April shook her head. <em>It was, though. She could've recognized me; I could have clued her in on the fact that we're going to investigate. And it didn't even accomplish anything. </em>"Fine," she said. "It was. I thought I could save someone and decided to play hero, and I wasn't even good at it."</p><p>There was a pause. "So," Harriet said. "Let's assume we get through this. Just let the Doctor and Martha say the right things at the right time. What do we do then?"</p><p>"In Gridlock," April answered, "not many people that we can save. At least that was one of the one's I liked, so we can get the timing right on everything. The Face of Boe has to die, and we can't do much about those two motorcars the Macra get. No access to them, no clue who they are. We don't have to change much, but we'd slow the Doctor down. Could tell him to go without us."</p><p>"But the Daleks. So many people died." There was a pause. "I'm so tired. Can't think right now."</p><p>"Well," April said. "One thing at a time, right? We just need to get through tomorrow. Stick to the script. Only that poor man who built the Globe will get hurt…right?" Was she forgetting anyone? April was exhausted, unable to think clearly. "We could try to stop that."</p><p>"Peter. He's insane, hurting," Harriet said. "He might consider death a mercy." <em>What? </em>April thought. Since when was <em>Harriet</em> the one who wanted to let other people die?</p><p>"What if he doesn't?" April asked.</p><p>"You were the one advocating for letting the Master escape the chameleon arch," Harriet pointed out.</p><p>"Because if Clara doesn't meet the Doctor…" She trailed off. "Alright, I was wrong. But…we can save Peter's life."</p><p>"How?" Harriet asked. "We'd only endanger our own lives, and he has nothing left in this world."</p><p>April paused. She was scared. When she had tried to stop Lilith earlier, it had been impulsive. She had had no clue what she was doing. And she didn't think she had the courage to try to stop that one with the finger from killing Peter. <em>I guess that's why I'd never make a good companion</em>, she thought. <em>Martha would do anything to save him, mad or not, in pain or not.</em></p><p><em>Well</em>, she decided, <em>I guess that makes me a bad person then. Deal with it, I guess.</em> "Yeah," she said.</p><p>"We can save other people. We'll make a plan way before Daleks in Manhattan, stop the whole thing. Guide the Doctor towards the answer earlier. Or save the Dalek-Humans," Harriet said. "Right now, we just need to stay as close to cannon as possible. Keep quiet, be like we're not even there. Shadows. Just watching."</p><p>"Shadows," April agreed.</p><p>Harriet rolled over, and a minute later April could hear her snoring. <em>Go to sleep</em>, she told herself.</p><p><em>What happens next?</em> She found herself wondering. April didn't remember the episode perfectly. Did they wake up in the morning, or did they wake up at night and figure something out? She closed her eyes, thinking. <em>I'm missing something.</em> The plot of the episode was that they changed the last lines of Shakespeare's play to bring about the end of the world. Big stakes. So, when did they change the lines?</p><p><em>Tonight</em>, she remembered. <em>Should I try to stop them?</em></p><p>
  <em>No, there's no point, they'll succeed anyway.</em>
</p><p><em>Why do I feel like I'm missing something?</em> April thought, and thought, and thought, trying to remember as much as she could. That night, they would wake up, and Martha would see Lilith flying away. But why would they wake up?</p><p><em>A scream, I think. Yes! A scream. That woman who works here. I don't know her…</em>April's heart began to race. She and Harriet had made a huge mistake. They had thought that only Peter would get hurt, but they were wrong. Because they had forgotten the woman who died of fright. April sat up in bed, her eyes wide, and began to shake her friend.</p><p>"Harriet!" She whispered urgently. "Harriet, we forgot about—"</p><p>But Harriet wasn't waking up. Harriet fell asleep quickly, but she was always a light sleeper. If she wouldn't wake up…April froze. Something was off about this. April shivered, noticing that it was colder than before. Turning over, April looked at the window. But the window was open, and the curtains were flapping in the breeze. And right by the window, there was a broom, and holding that broom was Lilith.</p><p>She was smiling.</p><p>April opened her mouth to scream, but just like in her worst nightmares, no sound came out. She jumped up from bed, ready to run towards the door, but Lilith removed a small bottle from her dress and uncorked it, blowing the green vapor towards April. Holding her breath, April rattled the doorknob, desperate to escape, but the room was locked and no one was coming. Against her will, April breathed in, and the last thing she saw was Lilith's sharp, pointy teeth.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Escape</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Captured by the Carrionites, April must somehow manage to survive and get back to her friends.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>April opened her mouth to scream, but just like in her worst nightmares, no sound came out. She jumped up from bed, ready to run towards the door, but Lilith removed a small bottle from her dress and uncorked it, blowing the green vapor towards April. Holding her breath, April rattled the doorknob, desperate to escape, but the room was locked and no one was coming. Against her will, April breathed in, and the last thing she saw was Lilith's sharp, pointy teeth.</em>
</p><hr/><p>Slowly, April became aware that wherever she was, it definitely was not her room at the inn. She was lying on the cold, hard floor, and her head ached as if someone had decided to whack it with a club. Her wrists and ankles were bound with coarse sailor's rope, and had been for some time if the pain was anything to go by.</p><p>She could smell strange herbs and the air seemed to be thick with some sort of energy. Sage, mistletoe, peppermint, and others that she couldn't name. April blinked, and realized that the familiar weight of her glasses was gone. She squinted, trying to see. Around her, the entire room was blurry. Two shadowy figures waited by a cauldron of some sort, filled with water. <em>The mothers</em>, April's brain supplied. The herbs and plants hung all around the room, with strange dreamcatcher-like objects and metal chains. The room was lit by an assortment of candles and torches, their fires dancing as if augmented by magic.</p><p>There was the sound of cackling, and Lilith flew in, her brown hair flying and her face the face of a monster. "Oh, my mothers," she said, placing her broom by the window. "The deed is done!"</p><p>"From the pen of the writer, the words of power shall pour forth, and the end of days shall come!" Cackled one of the mothers.</p><p>April looked around, her mind racing. However much it would ruin the plot, she would name them if that's what it took to escape. She didn't want to die. Wriggling around, she tried to undo her bonds, but the ropes were tied too tight. There were plenty of sharp objects in the room—rusty knives, shining hooks, and even a dull grey sword. If she could just reach one…no, the Carrionites would prevent her from ever getting close enough. They were insanely powerful, able to stop her heart with a single touch, and she couldn't risk them noticing an escape attempt.</p><p>She didn't know the mother's individual names, but she could use Carrionite for one of them and Lilith for the daughter. But that would still leave one left. But if she could get one of the mothers to leave, or better yet, two of them, then she would be able to send them away. They'd be back, of course, but then she could get out.</p><p>Of course, there was another option. She could give the Carrionites whatever they wanted and hope they left her for after they took over the world. For some reason, they had entered her room and only taken her, not Martha, Harriet, or the Doctor. <em>Probably because you tried to stop Lilith from hurting the Master of the Revels, whatever he was called again</em>, she realized. <em>Come on, April, of all the stupid, ridiculous, impulsive things to do…</em></p><p>April looked up and realized that Lilith was standing over her. Her face had turned back to that of a beautiful woman, but somehow, she still seemed to radiate evil. "The youngest human has awoken," she said. "Child of two worlds, you are out of your time." <em>Two worlds…but that would mean—</em></p><p>
  <em>Focus!</em>
</p><p>"I knew it," she said triumphantly, hoping to stick with her noblewoman ruse from before. "I knew you—thou art a servant of the Devil, wanton woman!" There. That sounded suitably old-fashioned to April, though for all she knew she sounded from the seventeenth or fifteenth century rather than the sixteenth.</p><p>"Feign not ignorance, I counsel thee, else 'morrow's sun, thou shalt not see," Lilith cackled, bending down. April's heart began to race, as if refusing to rest would keep it going when Lilith's finger touched her chest. But instead of killing her, Lilith plucked a hair from her head and placed it on her doll. She held in in the air, threateningly.</p><p>"What do you want?" April asked. <em>Don't pretend to be ignorant…then they must want information. I could lie to them. They might not know the difference. But if they decide I'm useless, then they'll just kill me, so I have to at least pretend I'll do whatever they want.</em></p><p>"Thou knoweth our plans," Lilith said, looking down at her. "And hath tried to sway the mind of Mister Lynley. Yet thou also attempted to stop us, when he refused to allow the play to be performed. Why?"</p><p>April watched as the two mothers leant over the cauldron. Lilith said the deed had been done—Shakespeare had written the lines and another poor person had died. But the Doctor would have realized that she was gone. If he went to Bedlam Asylum, then he would find this place and come in to rescue her. All she had to do was stay alive until he got there.</p><p>"I was trying to save his life," she said.</p><p>"And how didst thou see our plans. Thou art from another time, yet a mere mortal. Thou cannot have known. And yet…" She plucked another of April's hairs. This time, she felt it sting. "My mothers, we shall find the truth!" Placing the hair in the cauldron, she linked hands with the mothers while April edged towards one of the sharp knives on the wall.</p><p>"The past and futures rend to view," chanted the witches as April began to rub the bonds in her hands against the rusty knife, praying that she wouldn't cut off any fingers. "The vortex of time we shall see through. Night and day, they matter not, seek forth the time till she doth rot. A strand of life, through dark, through light, tells thine enemies how they must fight. Lead us through the mortal's path, and see how she hath found our wrath!" The three witches stirred the cauldron as they spoke until the final word. In an instant, they removed their spoons and Lilith plunged her hands into the cold, dark water.</p><p>Then her eyes snapped open as the bonds around April's hands broke. Ignoring the pain in her wrists, April wrenched the knife away from the metal that held it and began to furiously saw through the rope tying her ankles together.</p><p>"Mothers! Mother Bloodtide, Mother Doomfinger!" She called, her eyes wide and frightened. <em>Okay. Doomfinger. Bloodtide. Doomfinger. Bloodtide.</em> "It's so dark and bright, night and day, both at once! Oh mothers!" The two mothers rushed to her, holding her upright.</p><p>"What do you see, my daughter?" One asked Lilith. "Tell us, how does the child know?"</p><p>Finally, she chopped through the last strands, and April slowly crawled towards the door, not wanting to draw attention. <em>Come on, come on, don't look, don't look, don't look. Please don't look. </em>Carefully, she turned the knob. "Two sights!" Lilith called. "Oh, the light, it's beautiful! Copper lines, thin, shining, copper wires, and the lights of two worlds, but one is darkness!" Her head spun around, just as the door creaked. "The child!" Then she collapsed in her mother's arms as the witches turned around to see April escaping.</p><p>Giving up on stealth, April pulled the door open and ran, slamming it behind her and hoping that the mothers wouldn't follow. She ran down the stairs, grateful that she couldn't hear footsteps behind her, and stopped, breathing heavily. Her heart pounded as she ran out the door, and she paused, taking a breather. And then she looked up.</p><p>There hadn't been any footsteps following her. Unfortunately, witches could fly. "Dare not to defy witches of the night!" Cackled the Carrionite, holding up the doll. April froze. If she had the doll, then she could kill April in a second. Squinting, April realized that she was one of the mothers. <em>Which one? </em>She wondered. The mothers looked practically identical to her. <em>Come on, Sherlock Holmes, what would he do? What would he know? </em>April's thoughts raced. <em>Mother Doomfinger was closest to the window. </em>It wasn't enough to go on, but it was the best she had. Taking a deep breath, April looked up at her. She had to try. And she'd only get one go at this.</p><p><em>Does a naming require a rhyme?</em> She wondered, her mind going a mile a minute. <em>Lilith does a rhyme. 'I gaze upon this bag of bones and hereby name thee Martha Jones.' What rhymes with Doomfinger? Ainger, binger. Bringer!</em></p><p><em>Why couldn't Harriet do this? She's the theatre kid, she'd love this.</em> April took a deep breath. "What do you want?" She called. <em>Buy time, lull them into a false sense of security.</em> "I'll do anything, just don't hurt me." Her voice was legitimately scared, genuine. April was pretty sure she was crying, though it could just be the cold air. The Carrionite came closer, flying down to the ground.</p><p>"What did you do to Lilith?" She asked April.</p><p>"Nothing, nothing, I don't know, I swear I don't know."</p><p>"What is the Doctor doing?" When April failed to answer, she brought the needle that she held closer to the ugly doll.</p><p>April took a deep breath. Now or never. "I—Witch, of…chaos you are the bringer." The Carrionite looked at her like 'go on, I like praise'. April took another breath, and then spoke as fast as she could, pointing at the Carrionite. "Therefore, I name thee Mother Doomfinger!" The witch screamed, and disappeared in a slow flash of light. April wiped her eyes, breathing heavily. She would have to run now, before the other Carrionite could—</p><p>It was too late. The Carrionite stood at the window, holding the soggy hair that Lilith had used for her scrying spell and fastening it onto another doll. <em>I should've tried to burn them</em>, April thought. "Thou shalt not play these foolish mortal games!" She yelled. "Your will shall perish in fire and flames!" And slowly, she moved towards a candle, preparing to drop the doll in.</p><p>"No!" April yelled. "Please, I!" She could feel the air around her getting warmer as the Carrionite approached the candle, cackling. A second later, it was unbearable. April breathed in the hot air, feeling it burning her throat, her tears evaporating in the sweltering heat. And then it got cooler, as Mother Bloodtide turned away, towards the cauldron.</p><p>"Who is this Doctor, who interferes now at our time of glory?" She asked, sneering at what she saw. "I must away!" April felt the wind knocked out of her as the doll dropped to the ground, and she herself fell, bruising her side. But Mother Bloodtide had disappeared, travelling to Bedlam Asylum to visit Peter and find the truth.</p><p>April pulled herself up, trying to ignore the pain. <em>Really, you're lucky you haven't broken anything. That doll fell pretty far to the floor, considering its size. </em>Taking one look at the house behind her, she broke into a run. As she did, she could see Mother Doomfinger cursing her from her window, gasping for breath. <em>What was that, a minute? Less? They're quick about returning.</em></p><p><em>Where do I go? </em>April asked herself.</p><p>
  <em>The Asylum, just get to the Asylum.</em>
</p><p>"Someone," she panted, stopping in the street and clutching her side. She couldn't run anymore. "Can you…tell me…the way…to the Asylum?"</p><p>But it was late and the streets were deserted. "Please!" She called. "I need help! Where is the Asylum?"</p><p>A young man turned the corner, looking at her in confusion. He had short brown hair and green-grey eyes. His hands were covered in dirt, but his face seemed to be scrubbed pink. "What's a girl like you doin' out at this hour?" He asked.</p><p>"Where's the Asylum?" April said, no longer caring how ridiculous she seemed. "I need to know. Please."</p><p>"Oh, you escaped, did you?"</p><p>"No, my, my friends are there," she said desperately.</p><p>"I can take you there," he said. "You shouldn't be out unchaperoned this late at night." April paused to look up at him. Though his words seemed friendly enough his eyes glittered with malice.</p><p>"I don't think I need your help, actually," she said as she began to walk away. "Really, I'll be fine."</p><p>"Oh, I couldn't allow you to go off on your own," he said. "You'd be in great danger." He smiled, his mouth twisting into a wicked grin.</p><p>"Really," April said, breaking into a run, "I'm fine!" She didn't look back, her sneakers pounding on the dirt street. <em>Why oh why did I ever leave the TARDIS? </em>April wondered, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She was lost—how would she know anything about late sixteenth century England?</p><p>And then, April turned a corner and ran straight into Martha Jones.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Siege</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>April appears to have escaped the Carrionites. But as the night continues, Team TARDIS finds themselves besieged - in more ways than one.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Firstly, there are some issues with timing of this episode (as in, a whole day seems to pass without anyone doing anything). This was largely due to plays at the Globe Theatre happening throughout the day. Hence, the scenes with it had to be done at night, despite the lack of historical accuracy (plays would not be performed at night during that time period either) and sense within the story. I have provided my best explanation for this.<br/>Secondly, I have decided to skip encounters in the Expanded Universe. This is because a) I don't have access to most of the stories/audio plays in the EU; and b) I don't have the time/interest to write them. Assume all world-ending threats were taken care of by the relevant government officials and/or a specialized team of Time Travellers.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>"Really," April said, breaking into a run, "I'm fine!" She didn't look back, her sneakers pounding on the dirt street. </em>Why oh why did I ever leave the TARDIS? <em>April wondered, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She was lost—how would she know anything about late sixteenth century England? </em></p><p>
  <em>And then, April turned a corner and ran straight into Martha Jones.</em>
</p><hr/><p>"April!" Martha yelled. "Are you alright—"</p><p>"April!" Harriet ran over and gave her a giant hug, pressing into her bruised left side. April backed away uncomfortably, wincing. "What happened? You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"</p><p>"They got me, the witches," April said urgently. "I think one of them's coming after me, Mother Bloodtide."</p><p>"April," Harriet asked again, "are you sure you're alright?"</p><p>"C'mon," the Doctor said. "We have to go." April looked around him to see Shakespeare. The Doctor grabbed Martha's hand, and they began to run. "Well, come on," he said to April and Harriet, turning around. Sighing, April began to stumble after him.</p><p>By the time they made it to the inn, April could barely stand up. "Innkeeper!" The Doctor shouted to the man who was cleaning up the plates. "There are monsters about, the ones who killed Dolly and Lynley. Lock and bar the windows and doors." He nodded, his eyes wide, and then ran to the window to close it up.</p><p>"Come on," the Doctor said, pushing one of the tables against the door. "Martha, help me out." April sat down on the floor, clutching her side. After a few seconds, the Doctor came over and sat down next to her. "I have your glasses. A bit messy, but you can clean them off with your polishing cloth. Are you alright?" He asked, handing them to her. They were smudged, covered in fingerprints. <em>Right. The polishing cloth. That…I "went to get". And instead nearly got myself killed.</em></p><p>April considered her answer. Was she? "Yes," she said.</p><p>"I need you to tell me what happened." April closed her eyes, thinking.</p><p>"I used my knowledge to get out," she said. The Doctor ran his hands through his hair. "Can I tell you?"</p><p>"Yes," he said, after a moment. "But that was dangerous, is still dangerous. Do they know how much you know?"</p><p>"Yes—well, they already did, somehow," April said. <em>I should tell him what I did. But…he might react badly to it. Very badly. </em>"And they did this spell. It was like…what's the word? Scrying. They did a scrying spell, to figure out how much I knew." April stopped, taking a deep breath. <em>Is that a good enough lie? Well, not a lie. I…just </em>implied <em>that I have no clue how they knew about my knowledge.</em> <em>I can't believe it, though. The Doctor's telepathic, isn't he? What if he knows what I did?</em></p><p>
  <em>That would mean he has to be reading my mind, and he can't just do that.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>How do I know he can't sense a lie?</em>
</p><p><em>Because…well…</em> Harriet sat down next to April.</p><p>"How did they get you?" She asked.</p><p>"They came in at night, I tried to wake you, Harriet, but everyone was stuck asleep." She stared at the wooden floor. "And then I couldn't talk and she used a green sleeping potion—"</p><p>"It's not magic," the Doctor pointed out.</p><p>"Fine, green fumes that made me fall asleep. I woke up in her witchy place, with Lilith and the two mothers. They asked me how I knew their plans, so I tried to pretend I was random person from this time who thought Lilith was a witch. It didn't work, they already knew so much. They decided to do a spell to figure out how I knew so much." The Doctor's eyes widened at that. "While they were chanting, I, I was tied up so I cut the ropes on this knife lying around. Somehow managed not to cut myself. And then...Lilith was seeing into, I don't know <em>what </em>she was doing. But she was going on about two worlds and light and dark, and then she collapsed. I ran out of the house but one of the mothers followed me."</p><p>"Does that mean we <em>are</em> from a parallel universe?" Harriet asked the Doctor, who shushed her.</p><p>"To stop her, I…did they figure it out yet?" April asked Harriet on the off chance that sharing her knowledge was actually dangerous to Time.</p><p>"You mean…I think."</p><p>"I named her. Mother Bloodfinger. And she disappeared in this flash of light. It's okay to tell you about naming now because you already figured it out, right?"</p><p>"No, well, sort of, well…" The Doctor trailed off. "Here it was safe, yes, but it's not always."</p><p>"The other one was going to kill me, but she disappeared, said she was going to stop you."</p><p>"He named her," Harriet said quietly. "Carrionite. Just he was supposed to."</p><p>"No. Not supposed to. Nothing is 'supposed to' happen. Except fixed points in time, and they <em>always </em>happen. They're constant. This is important, if you don't comprehend this, you could destroy the universe. You <em>have</em> to understand. It's not a question of supposed to. Time can be rewritten."</p><p>"I know," April said, nodding. "But what we saw on the—"</p><p>"There is no show!" He protested.</p><p>"But she said two worlds, didn't she?" Harriet asked.</p><p>April nodded. "Several times."</p><p>"This doesn't make any sense! The Block Transfer Calculations said you were from this universe, that you had never travelled across the void or even miraculously travelled to another universe <em>without</em> crossing the void."</p><p>"What about the bacteria?" April asked. "Can't you analyze that?"</p><p>"I could've," he said darkly, "but I was distracted. It's too late now. The TARDIS will have cycled it out so that you can live in 21st Century Earth without having to stay in a bubble. And fixed your immune systems too, to that standard." <em>But home…if we get home then our immune systems…why didn't I think of that? Our immune systems won't be able to cope if they were changed.</em></p><p>
  <em>The TARDIS can change them back. Probably. Well…I think it can? If it was able to change them once, then it should be able to revert them. </em>
</p><p>"But there was enough for the Judoon to think we weren't human," Harriet said. "The only way we can explain this is if we're from a parallel world."</p><p>"There are plenty of other explanations," the Doctor said. "The coming from the parallel world was a theory, and we disproved it."</p><p>"What other explanations?" April asked.</p><p>"You could have been taken to space and had the memory erased. You could've been taken out of your proper time and had the memory erased. But more likely, someone did this deliberately."</p><p>"Like, as an experiment?" Harriet asked. "Nobody would've done that."</p><p>"I can think of a few," the Doctor said darkly.</p><p>"Who?" April asked. He didn't answer.</p><p>Eventually, he shook his head. "Whatever happened, we <em>will </em>find out. Are you sure you're alright?" He asked April.</p><p>"Yeah," she said. "Fine." Like she was going to say she wasn't.</p><p>He got up, and went to go check on the defenses.</p><p>"You're not alright," Harriet said quietly.</p><p>"Of course, I'm not," April said, rolling her eyes. "I'm stuck in the wrong universe and no one believes me, and I've got evil alien witches trying to kill me."</p><p>"How do we fix this?" Harriet asked, tugging on her braids. "How do we make everything alright?"</p><p>"We just have to close off the portal when it opens. Leave it to Martha and the Doctor," April said slowly. "And then, problem solved, off we go." She sighed, watching as the remaining serving girl, Martha, Shakespeare, the innkeeper, and two of the patrons checked that each door was locked and barred and the Doctor fooled around with metal shoe buckles and his sonic screwdriver.</p><p>"This didn't happen in the episode," Harriet said.</p><p>"Yeah," she said. "Did Peter still die?"</p><p>Harriet nodded sadly. "I wanted to do something, but I was scared."</p><p>"I wouldn't have been able to help either," April assured her. There was a pause. "This is never gonna be over, is it?"</p><p>"Huh?"</p><p>"We're never going to get home. The Doctor doesn't believe where we're from, and even if he does figure it out, all the parallel worlds are sealed off. Not even a signal could get through—remember the Doctor's connection breaking off?"</p><p>"Well…what if he's right?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"He's not—of course he's not! You remember your past just as clearly as I do!"</p><p>"I'm not the Time Lord who's experienced with this. I mean, all of Classic Who and a good portion of the expanded universe, but he's gone to the Time Lord Academy."</p><p>"And he's not the one who lived our lives," April said. "I could tell if my life was a fake."</p><p>"And he is probably wrong," Harriet said. "Still…there's a chance. That there's no home to go back to."</p><p>"There is," April insisted.</p><p>"The dimension cannon," Harriet reminded her. "If you're—we're—right and we can convince him by then…"</p><p>"Two seasons, though?" April asked. "There's no way we can survive that long."</p><p>"Yes, we can," Harriet insisted. "The Doctor managed it. Martha managed it, even if she wasn't travelling with the Doctor half that time."</p><p>"Maybe UNIT would be safer than here." April closed her eyes for a moment, exhausted.</p><p>"You should sleep while you can," Harriet suggested. April yawned.</p><p>"I'm not tired." Harriet just <em>looked</em> at her, and after a moment she nodded. April went upstairs to get a mattress, unwilling to sleep alone where the Carrionites could get her. Harriet helped her drag it downstairs. Both girls lay on it, watching as Martha and another patron fell asleep on mattresses of their own and Shakespeare, the innkeeper, and the remaining patron watched the doors and windows for any sign of attack. The Doctor was busy assembling some sort of device that he insisted would keep the Carrionites from teleporting in.</p><p>Slowly, April closed her eyes, and this time, sleep came easily.</p><hr/><p>
  <em>April was being chased by a demon. It was blurry, because she had lost her glasses. But then she reached up to touch her face and found them there.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She spun around and the demon twisted into focus. It was a Carrionite, but she called it a Dalek, and when it opened its mouth, it said "EXTERMINATE!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And April realized that her vision was blurry again. Somehow, she knew what it meant—she was becoming a Carrionite-Dalek. Then the Doctor was there, looking at her, his eyes sad and disappointed. "You are a good Dalek," he said, only in a Dalek voice, and then she knew it was happening to him too.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Carrionite cackled, and April ran, only the streets were packed with orphans and if she touched them, they'd die. She couldn't let that happen, so she froze, and the Carrionite caught up to her. "You're not playing the game right," one of the street kids said, and when she turned around, she saw a hideous creature, dripping with slime and sewage.</em>
</p><p>"<em>Watch the water," the Doctor said, holding out his hand, and she took it. Suddenly April was falling, falling through the sewers, the Dalek sewers, and she knew it would take fourteen years to get out.</em></p><p>
  <em>Slowly, she struggled to her feet, but there was a voice in the dark. "They hurt poor Peter," April heard it say. "And then they snapped poor Peter's wits!" Lilith began to cackle in the distance, only it was the Doctor that came out of the shadows, his face morphing into the visage of a Carrionite.</em>
</p><p>"<em>I name thee Carrionite!" She cried, but even before she finished, she knew it wouldn't work.</em></p><p>
  <em>Then she was back on the street and the slimy street kid turned to her. "The power of a name only works once." And she was so angry, so very angry, and her face turned into that of a Carrionite too.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She leapt towards the creature, and the next thing she knew the creature was back to a normal street kid, bleeding on the ground. Except April would recognize that round face, that reddish hair, those wide blue eyes anywhere. This was her younger self. "You killed me," little April said. "You killed me dead."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>April ran, the sewers around her morphing into darkness. Something was chasing her, through the tunnels underneath the ground, something dark and ancient and evil. It was behind her, right behind her, breathing down the back of her neck.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She spun around, but it was gone. And in its place was the TARDIS. Except instead of the normal writing on the sign, there were four words. "The Storm is Coming." April wrenched open the door, but the inside of the box was only filled with shadows. And it was very much the same size on the inside as the outside.</em>
</p><p>"<em>You got it wrong!" Someone shouted. April spun around to see Harriet, Harriet with one of the Dalek eyestalks sticking out of her forehead. Running towards her, April found herself only getting farther and farther away as the darkness engulfed her friend. And then it came for her, ravenous, eating away at everything, corrosive even to the stone walls that she somehow knew had stood there for millenia.</em></p><p>
  <em>And then April was in the void, standing on a black plain of nothingness that extended forever and always and everywhere. "Thou art but a pawn for a single day," April heard someone say. She twirled around, trying to find the source of the voice, but no matter where she looked it always seemed to be behind her. "A dolly for the puppeteer to play." </em>
</p><p>"<em>Please!" April called out.</em></p><p>"<em>And do my will till the sun doth set," the voice continued.</em></p><p>"<em>Someone, help me!" April called out. "Harriet! Mom! Doctor! Doctor, please help, I'm here, please!" </em></p><p>"<em>A simple wooden marionette."</em></p><p>
  <em>And then April turned around to see Lilith, her face smooth and beautiful, holding her grotesque wooden doll, complete with one of her hairs on top. </em>
</p><p>I forgot<em>, April thought. </em>No, no, no, I forgot, I left the hair there, I forgot, I forgot, I forgot!</p><p>
  <em>The Carrionite smiled. "Sleep now," Lilith said softly, and April was frozen in place. "It's only a dream." Then she left, leaving April alone in the dark.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She tried to open her mouth to call out, but she was frozen in place, unable to even open her eyes.</em>
</p><p>Wake up, wake up!<em> April told herself urgently. But she couldn't. </em>Please<em>, she called out in her head. </em>What's happening to me?</p><p>
  <em>There was no answer, only the dark. </em>
</p><p>And then her eyes snapped open, and April felt herself move.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Marionette</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>April must fight the Carrionites' control while the others investigate.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is currently 7 chapters behind the version of April Storm on fanfiction.net, so if you want you can check it out there. I'll try to get this caught up as soon as I can, though.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wake up, wake up! <em>April told herself urgently. But she couldn't. </em>Please<em>, she called out in her head. </em>What's happening to me?</p><p>
  <em>There was no answer, only the dark.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And then her eyes snapped open, and April felt herself move.</em>
</p><hr/><p>"Wake up, April, it's the morning!" April's arms pushed her upright, but she hadn't told them to do that.</p><p>"Alright," her mouth said. 'What's going on?' April tried to say, but found that she could no longer control her own speech. 'Help!' She tried, but her mouth didn't even twitch. "I <em>am</em> getting up."</p><p>"April! Harriet!" The Doctor called. "We need to go, stop the play."</p><p>"What time is it?" Martha was saying as she pulled on a jacket.</p><p>"Er, about…" the Doctor looked up at the sky. The sun was rising. "Six twenty-seven and forty-seven seconds starting…now."</p><p>"Really?" Martha asked. "You can do that?"</p><p>"Where's Shakespeare?" April asked.</p><p>"He left," the Doctor grimaced. "During the night. We have to find him."</p><p>April tried to make herself stop, but she couldn't do anything. Someone else was controlling her movements, her speech, her choices. <em>At least they haven't got my thoughts</em>, April thought. <em>Those are mine, and they can't take them.</em> April got up and walked over to the door. To her dismay, it felt completely natural to her, and doubted it would look strange to the others. She wasn't walking around like a robot, just a normal girl. Though, she supposed her movements were a bit sluggish. Possibly. Hopefully.</p><p>
  <em>Come on, I've known Harriet since I was ten! She's going to realize something's wrong, isn't she?</em>
</p><p>As the group walked down to the Globe Theatre, April continued to try to fight against the witch's spell. "Are you sure this is safe?" She heard herself saying. "To go out in the open like this. Surely it is dangerous."</p><p>"What's life without a little risk?" The Doctor asked cheerfully. They entered the Globe theatre, and April found herself staying back as the Doctor asked the men gathered there whether they'd seen Shakespeare.</p><p>"O' course, handed the papers and left, how unlike him," he said gruffly.</p><p>"Don't," the Doctor warned. "Don't perform the play, don't say the lines."</p><p>"We've got to practice. Mind you, sequel's never as good as the original, Will must've been dozing off as he wrote the last few lines," he said, shaking his head. "But a play's a play, and Love Labour's Won must be performed!"</p><p>"No," the Doctor said, "it can't be, it'll—"</p><p>"I think you should leave, sir," he said forcefully, "and come back at the time of the performance."</p><p>"But you can't!" Protested the Doctor.</p><p>"Out!" He yelled.</p><p>"C'mon," the Doctor told the group. "Off to find Shakespeare."</p><p>"Do you think he is at the aliens' house?" April heard herself say. <em>If the Carrionites want him to go there, then he's not there. Where would I put him if I was an evil alien from the dawn of time?</em> She wondered, fighting against the will that compelled her to walk with the Doctor as he spoke. 'It's a trap,' she tried to say, but nothing came out.</p><p>"No," he said, "no, no, no, too obvious." April breathed a mental sigh of relief. He wasn't falling for it. "Unless," he continued, "we're supposed to think that. Of course! They're overconfident, think they can keep him there. But you escaped, April, so they wouldn't count on it. They know we know about the naming and that he would know their names." The Doctor ran his hands through his hair. "Rose would know, Rose would know and laugh, and tell me how obvious it is."</p><p>'He's not there!' April tried to say again.</p><p>"What I don't understand," Martha said quietly, "is how they expect to hide him anywhere. He's Shakespeare, he's a genius. And everyone knows who he is. All he has to do is shout."</p><p>The Doctor was either too busy reminiscing about Rose to hear her or was purposely ignoring her. "But Rose isn't here, and I'm stuck with you lot." Harriet looked like she wanted to slap him in the face, and Martha was staring at the Globe Theatre, concentrating intently on the view. "What did you say, Martha?"</p><p>
  <em>Great. Shakespeare's missing, and the Doctor's not accepting advice from his companions. This definitely didn't happen in the show. But…at least we have some time. The play happened at night, didn't it? And it's early in the morning.</em>
</p><p>Martha looked over to the Doctor resentfully. "They can't hide him anywhere, it's broad daylight, someone would help him. All he'd have to do is shout."</p><p>"Don't you remember what happened to April?" He asked her.</p><p>"I was unable speak when Lilith took me," she said. April tried to make herself shut up, but she couldn't do anything to change the words that she said. She wasn't in a battle of wills to control her body, her brain was completely disconnected from the impulses that her neurons sent to move her muscles.</p><p>"Oh," Martha said. "Well then, what do we do?"</p><p>"Only one thing we can do. Whether it's the right place or not, it's a trap."</p><p>"And so?" Harriet asked.</p><p>The Doctor grinned. "Spring the trap!" Then he raced off, and the three girls ran after him.</p><p>April could feel herself being dragged along, and gave up fighting. Instead, she tried to think. If she couldn't influence anything she did, <em>then</em> what could she do? Well, she could try to figure out where Shakespeare was. Perhaps someone would realize that she was acting strangely. They entered the building, and the stairs creaked on the way up. The Doctor insisted on going first, and the others followed cautiously.</p><p>Slowly, the group entered the room, looking around. The cauldron bubbled away over the fire, but there were no witches to be seen.</p><p>"Martha, go check on that noise," April heard the Doctor say. She didn't hear any noise, just the crackling of the torches in the dusty, smelly room full of the scent of evil.</p><p>"I'll come with," Harriet said. "In case there's witches." All the others seemed to hear it, except April. Which either meant that being controlled by Carrionites stopped her from hearing it, or more likely, it didn't exist.</p><p>"Not witches," the Doctor corrected.</p><p>"Shakespeare!" Harriet yelled, and the two other girls raced out of the room.</p><p>"April," the Doctor said when they left, "are you sure you're alright after last night?"</p><p>"No," April heard herself say. "The aliens were…" She felt herself shudder.</p><p>"Do you want to go back to the inn? You might be safer there." <em>Yes, I want to go back, I just want to go back. Or better yet, go back home, back to Earth. I don't care if UNIT's full of leaks, it's better than being here.</em></p><p>"Will I be of any help here?"</p><p>"Yes," the Doctor admitted.</p><p>"Then I'll stay," she heard herself say. Then she felt herself spin around as she heard a scream from outside the room. The group rushed out into the hallway, where Harriet was lying on the ground and Martha was backing away from Lilith. <em>Wait a second, how's she here, if she's also in my mind? </em>April felt herself panic, but pushed it back. Even if she couldn't do anything, she had to remain rational. Harriet was in the wrong time, she would wake up soon.</p><p>"I name you Carrionite!" Martha yelled. Lilith swayed, pretending to be affected, then sneered, her features contorting into her witch face.</p><p>"Oh, thou hath struck a mortal blow," she said sarcastically. "The power of a name works only once. Observe. I gaze upon this bag of bones and hereby name thee Martha Jones!" The Carrionite pointed her finger at Martha, who collapsed into April's arms.</p><p>"No!" The Doctor yelled as she spoke, but he was too late to stop her. "Martha?" Since she hadn't fallen into him, he couldn't tell if she was alive, April realized.</p><p>"Hmm," Lilith said, gazing at her finger. "Less effective. She is somehow out of her time." She shrugged. "New realities, my words doth form, for I now name thee April Storm!" The naming didn't work on her, but April felt herself collapse to the ground, feigning unconsciousness.</p><p>As she lay there, though, unable to see, she felt a tiny spark of energy. <em>She's not holding the voodoo doll. So, either one of the mothers is doing that now, or this isn't just hijacking my body's electrical impulses. She actually is, somehow, in my mind. And a door, once open, can lead in two directions</em>, she remembered. <em>Or something like that.</em> April latched onto it, trying to pry her way back through the door and access the Carrionite's mind.</p><p>"Oh, we'll see," Lilith was saying. "What?" She said, and April felt herself expelled, pushed back into her body lying on the ground.</p><p>"What did you do?" The Doctor asked. April wished she could see what was going on.</p><p>"Souvenir."</p><p>"Well, give it back. Hey! That's just cheating!"</p><p>"Behold, Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets."</p><p>"Now, you might call that magic. I'd call that a DNA replication module."</p><p>"It is too late, Doctor. The play shall begin at the appointed hour, and darkness shall reign over the light. What use is your science now?" April could hear the Doctor scream, and felt the sudden urge to break free. But it was useless. She was back in that black void, and above her there was a glimmering light, but she couldn't ever reach it. <em>Two hearts, don't worry, he'll be fine</em>, she assured herself.</p><p>"Oh my god, Doctor. Don't worry, I've got you."</p><p>"Two hearts," Harriet reminded Martha."</p><p>"Doctor!" April heard herself say, and her eyes opened again.</p><p>"You're making a habit of this. Ah! I've only got one heart working. How do you people cope? I've got to get the other one started. Hit me!" April felt herself standing up. "Hit me on the chest! Da! Other side. No, on the back, on the back. Left a bit. There we go. Badda booma!"</p><p>"So, where is he?" April heard herself ask. "The play won't stop without Shakespeare; we've got to find him." <em>Please, please Doctor, notice something's wrong.</em></p><p>"Of course. There are things to do, important things to do, stop the end of the world. And I think I know where he is, really, if you think about it really hard, it's obvious. If you're me, I mean. All you have to do is remember the doors, just place them all about, and really, it's quite obvious where Shakespeare is. Isn't it?" <em>Doors?</em></p><p>"What?" Harriet asked. "What're you going on about? April, are you alright? You were out longer than I was, and they got me first."</p><p>"Harriet, Martha, April. Do you trust me?" He asked.</p><p>"Yes," Harriet said easily.</p><p>"Yes," April heard herself say. "Of course, you're the Doctor."</p><p>"Martha?" He asked.</p><p>Martha paused, and took a deep breath. "Yes."</p><p>"Good," he said, and pushed April against the wall. <em>He's figured it out!</em> She could feel arms trying to push him away, but he placed his fingers on her temples and she was back in the void. Remembering what he had said about doors to Reinette, she hastily imagined doors to close off memories behind.</p><p>
  <em>April was able to move freely again, able to see Lilith, her teeth sharp and pointy and red energy radiating out from her. The Doctor was there too, his expression grim. The floor was pitch black, and the walls were too. She was walking on nothingness, like the mindscape in "The Three Doctors".</em>
</p><p>"<em>April," he said, "you need to push her out, I can't do it."</em></p><p>"<em>A mere mortal is incapable of fighting my power," Lilith said. "She's but a puppet, there's no meaningful connection."</em></p><p>"<em>April," the Doctor said again. "Trust me, you can, if you try."</em></p><p>"<em>Get out," April said feebly. Lilith cackled. "Get out, leave me alone," she said, louder. But Lilith just stood there, looking smug, her red aura twisting and burning with self-assurance. April rushed at her angrily, trying to push her away, but Lilith was too strong. She took a single finger, placed it on April's forehead, and sent her tumbling to the ground.</em></p><p>
  <em>Except the ground was suddenly gone, and she was falling, falling through her mind. Around her, snippets of memory swirled around.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was her seventh birthday, and she was crying because her brother had popped her balloon.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She was six, and the kids at school were laughing at her Weeping Angel shirt that her mother had bought her for her birthday.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was the summer before ninth grade, and she was getting glasses.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>April was fifteen, and she was building a fake TARDIS console with Ava.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The strange object she had found before the car accident lay in the grass, students passing by it almost as if it held a perception filter. It was grey, a mass of wires pouring out of it like spaghetti. On it, there was a glass dial, but there weren't any numbers.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The sun was shining and birds were chirping as sixteen-year-old April and her friends acted out a pretend Doctor Who story, with April as the Doctor and Harriet as the companion.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rain poured down as two-year-old April gazed longingly at one of her mother's Doctor Who books, wishing she could read the story with the pretty cover.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Three-year-old April insisted that her mother tell her another bedtime story—a story about a girl named Rose, April's middle name, travelling with the Doctor through time and space.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Her smile when her mother told her that there was Doctor Who again, and there really was a Rose who was the Doctor's companion.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>White, that strange white light that she had seen before she woke up in the Royal Hope Hospital, except instead of blinding it was blank, so blank.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A small girl was stomping through puddles, laughing at the splashes they made. It was April, little April, dancing in the glistening black streets.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She was sixteen, her hands shaking as she sat behind the wheel of her father's car.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tumbling through space, April let out an endless scream. And then someone reached out and caught her hand.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>April held onto the Doctor's arm, her lifeline, as it pulled her up, back onto the surface of the void. Lilith looked at her in shock, then shook herself and sneered. "You don't have the strength."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>April ran at Lilith, and pushed, with all her might. She could feel the Doctor pushing with her, but it wasn't enough. Tendrils of red energy twisted around them, holding them, choking them.</em>
</p><p><em>But April felt a strange sensation in her fingers, as if someone was holding them. A warm hand slipped into her left, holding it tight. Someone squeezed her right hand, as if reassuring her that it would be okay. </em>Harriet. <em>April looked up at Lilith, who rolled her eyes at her, not afraid in the slightest.</em></p><p>"<em>She should be," someone said in her mind, and April was pretty sure it was herself. April took a deep breath, then another. Then, with a burst of strength, April placed her hands on Lilith's shoulders and pushed.</em></p><p>"<em>Get out!" And then she was falling, falling though the void again. Only she was falling up, up towards the glimmer of light, and into reality.</em></p><p>April's eyes snapped open, entirely of her own accord.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. The Rift Opens</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>April has escaped the control of the Carrionites, but is she too late? The rift is opening, and she'll need all her willpower and intelligence to survive the challenges to come.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"She should be," someone said in her mind, and April was pretty sure it was herself. April took a deep breath, then another. Then, with a burst of strength, April placed her hands on Lilith's shoulders and pushed.</p><p>"Get out!" And then she was falling, falling though the void again. Only she was falling up, up towards the glimmer of light, and into reality.</p><p>
  <em>April's eyes snapped open, entirely of her own accord.</em>
</p><hr/><p>"April!" Harriet shouted, running over to her friend. The Doctor backed away, and April collapsed against the wall, shaking. "Are you okay?"</p><p>April experimented by moving her fingers, twitching each of them in turn. She breathed, and it was her breathing, not an alien monster who had locked her mind away. "No," she said truthfully. "But I'm gonna be."</p><p>"I'm sorry I didn't realize earlier," the Doctor said, standing as far away from the others as possible.</p><p>"Thank you," April said, balancing herself against the wall. "It wasn't your fault. But…"</p><p>"Go on," the Doctor said encouragingly.</p><p>"When I…fell. I could see all sorts of memories. How much of it did you see?"</p><p>"Nothing. Your mind constructed a battlefield on which to fight Lilith. You didn't have any memories there." April couldn't help but be a little disappointed. If he could just have seen the parts where she and her friends were doing Doctor-Who related stuff, then he would finally believe her.</p><p>April looked out the window and noticed that the sun was much higher in the sky than it was before. "Why's it later?"</p><p>"You couldn't perceive the passing of time," the Doctor said. "You were fighting her for hours."</p><p>April's eyes widened. "Then we need to go, now. Didn't you say it was obvious where Shakespeare was?"</p><p>"I was lying," he said flatly. "Trying to warn you, tell you to put up doors. I've got no clue."<em> Shouldn't we just go?</em> April wondered. <em>We can find Shakespeare after we save the world. </em>But then she remembered how Shakespeare's words were necessary to close the portal and sighed. The fate of the world rested on a man whom they couldn't even find.</p><p>"Doctor," Harriet said, "I'm sorry. I didn't trust you…"</p><p>"You thought I was going to hurt your friend. Perfectly reasonable reaction. And thank you Martha for not letting her interfere. Now," the Doctor said. "Can we please have the rest of this conversation later?" He paced the hallway, thinking.</p><p><em>Where would Shakespeare be? </em>April wondered. <em>I mean, where would you put him where…</em> "What Martha said earlier. Before you interrupted her. Wherever the Carrionites put him…I know they can make people silent, but do you remember how quickly the…Lilith…had me shoot down her idea? Agree with you, say she wasn't onto anything? If it was a red herring…"</p><p>"Don't you think she would have led us to go down that path?" The Doctor finished. He froze, then ran his hands through his hair. "Think, Doctor, think." A smile slowly dawned on his face. "Martha Jones, you're a genius!" He said, pulling her in for a hug.</p><p>"What?" Martha asked.</p><p>"He only has to shout. If you were Shakespeare, captured and held by the Carrionites, what would you say?"</p><p>"Well, let me out, I suppose," April supplied.</p><p>"And where would his pleas go unnoticed?" Realization dawned on April, and she could see in Martha's smile that she saw it too. "Allons-y!" He yelled, rushing down the stairs.</p><p>"What?" Harriet asked, following. "Where're we going?"</p><p>The Doctor grinned. "Bedlam Asylum!"</p><p>The screen definitely did not do the asylum justice. It wasn't as horrible as April had imagined it would be—it was worse. Bedlam Asylum smelled of sickness and rotting flesh, of death and pain and suffering. The air was filled with the cries of the mad, begging to be let out. She passed a man who was petting the air, muttering about his dog and looked away.</p><p><em>I wish there was something I could do</em>, she thought. But there wasn't. These prisoners—because that's what they were; not patients, prisoners—would rot here, forsaken. April closed her eyes and tried not to breathe.</p><p>"Doctor!" Shakespeare cried. "I know not how I got here…I simply woke up and found myself surrounded by the mad. Did they bring me here, cart me off?"</p><p>The Doctor shook his head. "It was the Carrionites. They can control you if they have your…"</p><p>"Your…"</p><p>"Never mind. We've got to stop the show," the Doctor said. "Come with me, you must tell them to stop the it."</p><p>"But I have not handed them the papers," protested Shakespeare. "They wouldn't know what to say!"</p><p>"You did," April said. "When you were under their influence, they forced you to."</p><p>"So, I was bewitched?" Shakespeare asked.</p><p>"No," the Doctor said. "Well, yes. Well, no. Not at all. But if it helps, yes. To the theatre!" He took off running, leaving Martha and Harriet to drag Shakespeare along and April to try her best to keep up.</p><p>"The show hasn't started yet, though, has it?" Harriet asked. "We've got time." Looking up, April could see the sun was high in the sky, nowhere near the time when the play began in the episode. April shivered, and noticed that Martha was cold too.</p><p>When she looked up again, the sky looked just a shade darker.</p><p>"Right," the Doctor said. "Now, does anyone have a map?"</p><p>"I know the way!" Shakespeare said. "Follow me!" He began to lead them through the streets, as the sun's light grew dimmer and dimmer.</p><p>Then, when April was beginning to have trouble seeing, the Doctor stopped in his tracks. "I think the play's started," he said.</p><p>"Love's Labour's Won was not to be performed until the night!" Shakespeare protested.</p><p>"I think you told them to make it noon," the Doctor said.</p><p><em>They must have accelerated the play; instead of doing it at night, they did it in the day and made it night. Is this my fault? </em>April wondered. <em>Were they worried I somehow knew something?</em></p><p>"But it would have to be approved by someone, wouldn't it?" Martha asked.</p><p>"The Master of the Revels is dead," the Doctor pointed out. April looked up at the sky. It was beginning to look like nighttime, despite the sun's position. "Who was there to stop him?"</p><p>"Let's go!" The Doctor shouted, as the sun became completely obscured. People began running about, bumping into them as they tried to find their way in the dark. There were no stars visible in the sky, no sun, no moon, just an endless shadow fallen over the world. It reminded April of Turn Left or The Big Bang, where there were no stars left, just the night.</p><p>Then crimson lightening crackled across the darkness, and the Doctor broke into a run. They tore through the streets, trying to navigate the chaos and make their way towards the building, but the crowds were pushing against them. "I told thee so, I told thee!" April heard a man yelling. There was a piercing scream, right beside her. April spun around.</p><p>"Harriet?" She yelled desperately. "Harriet, are you here? Harriet!"</p><p>"April?" Harriet asked, trying to project her voice over the din. "Was that you?"</p><p>"I'm here," April said, trying to see ahead to where the Doctor, Shakespeare and Martha were. She reached out in the dark, squinting nervously at the storm brewing around the Globe Theater.</p><p>"Watch your hands!" She heard someone yell.</p><p>"Ow!" Harriet said. "You poked my eye." Gratefully, April closed her hand around Harriet's. "Into the darkness we go," she said, and April could practically see her smiling. How was Harriet smiling when the entire episode had gone this far off script?</p><p>April shook her head, but she squeezed Harriet's hand in response. Together, they pushed their way through the crowds until they could see again, bathed in the blood-red light of the unearthly storm.</p><p>In a burst of light, thousands of creatures cloaked in tattered robes cackled as they flew forth from the rift the Carrionites had created. "No!" Harriet yelled as the two girls pushed their way into the theatre. They raced across the wooden floor, glancing up at the Carrionites laughing maniacally above them. Red tendrils of energy wrapped themselves around Shakespeare, drawing him towards the center of the whirling tornado of magic even as the other Carrionites broke free to fly into the darkness.</p><p>"This wasn't supposed to happen," April whispered. The storm, yes, but since when had the energy had a consciousness? <em>We were too late.</em> She wanted to collapse where she stood, just let it be over and done. There was nothing she could do, it was too late, the Carrionites had won. All there was left to do was die, and that would be easy, it was living that was hard.</p><p>Entranced, she began to walk towards the malevolent energy. It drew her towards it, a beacon in the night, a lighthouse that guided her back from the turbulent sea. But instead of a harbor, the rocks awaited, sharp, deadly. April knew this, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was ghostly light, mystical and magical and beautiful. It was the end of the world and destruction and the crimson blood that was pumping through her veins.</p><p>She was scared, her fight or flight response was triggering. <em>Why?</em> April wondered. There was nothing to be afraid of. Death wasn't scary. Fear was a condition of the living. Step by step, she moved in towards the storm. "April!" She could hear the Doctor and Harriet screaming her name, see Martha trying to save Shakespeare as she held onto the wall, but they seemed distant. <em>Why are they even trying? </em>She wondered. <em>Don't they know it's pointless?</em> "April, step away from there, it'll kill you! You'll die!" <em>Yes, </em>she thought. Was that a problem?</p><p>"April, please!" Harriet shouted, trying to pull on her hand. But Harriet was tiny, a mere mortal who would soon die, just as she would. She wrenched herself free effortlessly. April neared the portal, a smile on her face as she stared into its depths, fiendish energy circling around as more witches poured forth from the other world. She was crying, but it mattered not. Why was she crying? This was good, good, good. The word echoed in her head.</p><p>Someone pushed her away from the light, and she struggled up, back towards it, the wind forcing her in. "You've got to fight it!" The Doctor yelled. April turned around, shocked out of the storm's spell, but then was caught once more and gazed at him quizzically. "Harriet! Snap her out of it!"</p><p>Harriet pulled on April again, this time grabbing her arm. She slapped her. It hurt. But the pain was irrelevant. All that mattered was the light. The beautiful, terrible light that would end all the pain. April reached out her hand, her eyes wide as she gazed at the rift. "April," Harriet was saying. "Please, stop it!"</p><p>Martha lost her grip on the wall, falling in, and as she touched the red light her scream turned into a beatific smile.</p><p>"We've got people to save!" Harriet yelled over the maniacal laughter of the witches and the howling of the turbulent wind. "New New York, don't you want to see that?"</p><p>"Come on," April said, entranced. "Step into the light."</p><p>"We're going to get home!" Harriet screamed; her face wet. Why was her face wet? Tears. Harriet was crying. What was the point in crying, salt water dripping from eyes tired of staring at the world?</p><p><em>No</em>, something inside her said. <em>Home. That's not home, we've got to get home, home, home!</em> April tried to push it down, not wanting to break her serenity. <em>Home! </em>April turned around, away from the light. Without the chaos and destruction dancing in her vision, the nameless evil began to lose it's hold. She stepped forwards, back towards Harriet and the Doctor.</p><p>"That's it!" The Doctor yelled. "Come on, April." <em>Home! </em>April broke into a run, fighting the wind as she forced her way back towards the only two remaining people in the theatre. The Doctor reached out his hand. Harriet was clutching onto the wall, trying not to get sucked in as she recited something that sounded vaguely like a rhyme. April reached out her hand, and—</p><p>Something grabbed her ankle, the crimson tendril dragging her back down into the rift. Her hand snatched thin air, and then the Doctor grabbed her wrist. The tendril tightened its grip, and April screamed.</p><p>"Hold on!" The Doctor yelled. Harriet grabbed her arm, holding her tight, but a Carrionite flew past her and she shrieked, losing her grip.</p><p>"I can't!" April yelled back. She looked at the red energy. Martha Jones had fallen into there, Martha Jones and Shakespeare. Even if the three of them could close the rift, reverse it, then those two were still lost. And if they were lost, then everything was lost. All of history would be changed.</p><p>Unless.</p><p>Unless they were still alive, and she could help them, help them escape. Because the world was ending, and there was nothing she could do, except fall.</p><p>"April, just keep holding on," the Doctor was saying. "Harriet's trying to close it, she's—" He fumbled, and April slipped, clawing at the ground as she was dragged towards the rift. "April!"</p><p>"They might be still alive!" April screamed, clutching the edge of the stage. If this was a show, she'd think of something. But this was real life, and she was dying for real, and she was scared.</p><p>And with that, April fell, screaming, into the rift.</p><p>
  <em>I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to—</em>
</p><p>—<em>die. I don't want to die, I don't want—</em></p><p><em>I'm thinking</em>, April realized. <em>I'm thinking. </em>She couldn't feel anything or hear anything or see anything. None of her senses were working. And yet she was thinking. <em>Wow, this is weird. And disturbing. </em>If she had had a body, she would have shuddered. <em>How am I thinking when I don't have a brain?</em></p><p>Around her, she could feel other thoughts, minds, almost like a sixth sense. She reached out instinctively, but found only a force of evil that made her so, so afraid. <em>Run, run, run!</em> But there was nowhere to run, and no feet to run with, and no ground to run on.</p><p><em>April!</em> She felt. Somehow, the word came to her, and she knew it was Martha, though she didn't hear it.</p><p><em>Martha!</em> April called out with her mind.</p><p><em>I fear we have met our lord, </em>Shakespeare thought to them, <em>but why are we surrounded by the minions of the Devil? And where is my sweet Hamnet?</em></p><p><em>We're not dead,</em> April thought to them. Around her mind, she could feel the Carrionites swirling, spiraling in circles, readying for the kill. <em>Well, we're thinking, so we're existent, but—</em></p><p><em>The Doctor and Harriet, are they alive?</em> Martha asked.</p><p>
  <em>Not for long, if we don't do anything. Same for us. Do you remember what the Doctor said about the Carrionite's power?</em>
</p><p><em>It comes from words, right? </em>Martha thought to them. <em>You mean…if we choose the right words…</em></p><p><em>We can have power</em>, April finished for her. <em>We're in the Carrionite's realm. Words are the ultimate weapon here. </em>She was suddenly hit by a wave of grief from Shakespeare.</p><p>
  <em>Where is my Hamnet?</em>
</p><p><em>Whoa,</em> Martha thought, <em>did you feel that?</em></p><p><em>Yeah</em>, April thought. The Carrionites circled closer, feeding off his sorrow and despair. <em>And so can they. Shakespeare, Will, whatever, you need to protect your mind from the, um, forces of the Devil, alright?</em></p><p><em>They seek to use my son against me</em>, he thought to them.</p><p><em>Don't let them</em>, Martha told him. <em>Right, so words? Will they work in my thoughts too?</em></p><p><em>I don't know</em>, April responded. <em>But they're our best shot. First, we've got to do something about the Carrionites.</em></p><p><em>But I don't know what to say?</em> Martha thought. <em>Do you?</em></p><p>
  <em>No. But Shakespeare does. Shakespeare, you're the wordsmith, you have the words, just say them. Hold the Carrionites back!</em>
</p><p><em>But what words? I have none ready!</em> Shakespeare protested.</p><p><em>Improvise!</em> Martha thought-shouted. <em>For Shakespeare, you sure are terrible at this.</em></p><p>April could feel his indignation as he began. <em>I assure you; I am an expert with words. </em>The man took the mental equivalent of a deep breath. <em>Foul Carrionite specters, be held at bay, for thou must heed the words I say!</em></p><p>Suddenly, April felt herself bombarded by a billion thoughts, all bouncing back off an imaginary shield made real by pure words and willpower. Then the chant rose around them, dark and ancient and evil. <em>Ancient words from the dawn of time, break down walls with a single rhyme, rend these victims weak and undefended, their crumbling barrier cannot be mended! </em>With that, the Carrionites attacked, clawing at the trio's minds and shredding them with every blow.</p><p><em>Get us out of here!</em> April begged Shakespeare.</p><p>
  <em>I cannot…no…Hamnet. Oh, please, my Hamnet, the madness!</em>
</p><p><em>Come on! </em>April insisted, reaching out to him, but finding only nothingness.</p><p><em>Release us from your hateful world, </em>Martha tried. She faltered, unable to think of a rhyme.</p><p><em>From thine hateful world release us, </em>April tried. <em>Us, come on, us.</em></p><p><em>Let us go without a fuss! </em>Martha supplied. For a moment, April was starting to see a faint bit of red, but then it was gone and she was back to being pure thought.</p><p><em>Hold and bind the foolish mortals</em>, chanted the Carrionites, <em>for—</em></p><p><em>Foul specters, let us go, for thou art a foolish foe, to think this world shall be our grave, yet our lives these words shall save!</em> Shakespeare thought, as if struggling to his feet triumphantly. But the Carrionites began their chant again.</p><p><em>What if we can amplify them?</em> Martha asked.</p><p><em>Brilliant! </em>April thought. <em>Martha Jones, you're brilliant!</em></p><p>And together, they thought, with all their willpower:<em> Foul specters, let us go, for thou art a foolish foe, to think this world shall be our grave, yet our lives these words shall save! </em>The Carrionites began to cry out, their thoughts turning into millions of screaming minds, falling back, back, down, down into the darkness! The ridiculousness of the situation struck April, but still she chanted. <em>Foul specters, let us go, for thou art a foolish foe, to think this world shall be our grave, yet our lives these words shall save! </em>April was beginning to see and feel and hear again, the roaring of the wind and the screaming of the Carrionites filling her ears as she felt herself moving through the blood-red light. "Foul specters, let us go, for thou art a foolish foe, to think this world shall be our grave, yet our lives these words shall save!"</p><p>Then they were back in the theatre, with its wood floors and crimson rift. The Carrionites still flew through the air, but no more were coming from the tear in reality.</p><p>"April! Martha!" Harriet yelled. "Shakespeare, you've got to seal it!"</p><p>"Words, Will," he told himself, shaking. "Words of power. Close up this din of hateful, dire decay, decomposition of your witches' plot. You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not!"</p><p>"No!" Cried Lilith, but April couldn't smile, couldn't do anything else but hold on lest she be torn away by the storm and sent tumbling back into the rift once more.</p><p>"Foul Carrionite specters, cease your show! Between the points…"</p><p>"Seven six one three nine oh!" The Doctor supplied.</p><p>"Banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee—"</p><p>April and Harriet looked to Martha, who stared at them in confusion. "Expelliarmus!" She yelled, throwing up her hands.</p><p>"Expelliarmus!" Shakespeare finished.</p><p>"Good old JK!" The Doctor said, grinning as the Carrionites were sucked back into the void, screaming. But the three original Carrionites were trapped in their crystal ball, fighting to get out for all eternity. April collapsed on the ground, shaking. Beside her, Martha leant against a wall, breathing heavily, while the Doctor and Harriet grinned. Shakespeare, however, smiled charismatically and spread his hands as the audience flowed back in, their eyes wide. Someone, some stupid, wonderful idiot, began to clap.</p><p>And the entire room exploded in applause.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Scylla and Charybdis</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>April's survived The Shakespeare Code, but what comes next?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"Good old JK!" The Doctor said, grinning as the Carrionites were sucked back into the void, screaming. But the three original Carrionites were trapped in their crystal ball, fighting to get out for all eternity. April collapsed on the ground, shaking. Beside her, Martha leant against a wall, breathing heavily, while the Doctor and Harriet grinned. Shakespeare, however, smiled charismatically and spread his hands as the audience flowed back in, their eyes wide. Someone, some stupid, wonderful idiot, began to clap.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And the entire room exploded in applause.</em>
</p><hr/><p>After Shakespeare had finished making a speech about how this was all completely intentional and the audience had filed out, the group was left alone on the wooden stage. "It's time we were off," the Doctor said. "I've got a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot can scream for all eternity."</p><p>"Don't you think they could escape?" Martha asked, staring at it.</p><p>"Nah," he said. "They won't be getting out any time soon. Well then, best be off. Places to see, things to do, Martha to take back to Freedonia…"</p><p>April, however, didn't think she'd be moving for <em>at least</em> a century.</p><p>"What happened?" Harriet asked her. "I don't think the rift was supposed to do that."</p><p>April shook her head. "It wasn't."</p><p>"Come on," Harriet said.</p><p>Groaning, April stood up. Her side still hurt and she had a massive headache. As they made their way back to the TARDIS, April could barely see, even after jamming her glasses back on her face. <em>Really</em>, she thought, <em>I need to scotch tape them on at this point, or else they'll fall off with all this running.</em></p><p><em>There's an easy fix for that, though</em>, she thought. <em>Just stop, stop travelling with the Doctor. This isn't the stuff of a dream, it's the stuff of a nightmare. Constantly running from evil aliens, being mind-controlled by witches that are actually creatures from the dawn of time, becoming pure thought for a while…</em></p><p>And there was worse to come. What if she was the one whom the people captured in Gridlock? What if the Macra got her, or she slowed the Doctor down when he was trying to find Martha? What if she messed everything up?</p><p>The Daleks in Manhattan. If she made a mistake there, the consequences would be deadly. Daleks loved to exterminate. And the alternative was even worse: become one of the Dalek's experiments or lose her mind as a pig-person. And as much as she had laughed at them on the show, she was certain Daleks in real life would be much more frightening.</p><p>Then The Lazarus Experiment, where she could have her life sucked out by a mutated monster. 42, where she could burn, dying as the spaceship crashed into a living sun. The Family of Blood and Human Nature would mean months spent hiding away in another time period with no way to get out. And she would risk being possessed by Mother of Mine or Daughter of Mine, not to mention what would happen if they saw her face before the episode even started. Blink, more time spent trapped in another year, but that certainly couldn't be as bad as being devoured by the Futurekind. And then the Year that Never Was. If she was on the Valiant then she would remember every second of that.</p><p>No matter what the Doctor said, she would stop that from happening. She was from another universe, right? Surely there wouldn't be a paradox if she told him about the Master. And she would save so many lives. The president's, for starters, but also Lucy. And that poor woman the Toclafane killed. April shuddered, remembering their childish voice. "The lady doesn't like us."</p><p>She had laughed when the Master kept opening the door and closing it again, shutting out her scream. She'd thought it was <em>funny</em>.</p><p>No, she would stop Yana from ever opening the watch, and that would be that. Before, she had worried about the Doctor meeting Clara, but she'd just have to find another way to make sure that happened.</p><p>Her knowledge would save her, April told herself. <em>It hasn't been very helpful so far. The Judoon nearly killed me. The Plasmavore nearly killed me, because I knew the Doctor's plan and tried to follow it even though I'm human. The Carrionites nearly killed me, all because I made the mistake of just trying to help an innocent man.</em></p><p>And here she was, tired, hurt, and probably going to die on the next adventure. This wasn't a story, it was real, and from an objective standpoint was that her survival was very unlikely.</p><p>She stumbled into the TARDIS, leaning against one of the coral struts as the Doctor prepared for takeoff. <em>I can't do this anymore.</em></p><p><em>But Earth's not exactly the safest place either</em>, April reminded herself. <em>The Master—well, hopefully Utopia doesn't happen but it </em>probably will<em>—is on Earth. Not only will he soon be Prime Minister and in charge of UNIT, but he's also able to hack into their systems. I can't go back there.</em></p><p>
  <em>I have to.</em>
</p><p>For once, her brain couldn't come to a decision at all. There were just too many variables to account for, and she was far too tired to be doing this. She needed some peace and quiet.</p><p>April sat on the bathroom floor, leaning against the wall and trying not to think about weird alien toilets. <em>Right</em>, she thought. <em>Time to decide. </em>It was quiet, almost disturbingly so, but it allowed April to think without getting distracted. <em>Stay or go. Should I stay or should I go, except that's probably about romance and I don't know the lyrics. I really am losing it.</em></p><p>Somehow, April felt like she would start singing any moment. <em>Now's the time when I burst into song. Except burst is a bad word for it. The lyrical music would start playing in the background, and then I would start quietly singing. "I can't know what I should do, for who can plan to enter Doctor Who. A trap or a trip or just me going mad, as I sit here in silence trying not to be sad. There's not an easy answer here, I'm not a psychic, not a seer. How can I know the best path to take, and when, oh when, will I from this nightmare awake?"</em> April found herself murmuring the words tunelessly to herself as she came up with them.</p><p>"That's awful," she said. "That song was well and truly horrible and I <em>really</em> should stop treating this like a story. Seriously, why am I speaking my inner monologue?"</p><p>
  <em>Just focus. Right? Focus. Earth isn't safe.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Neither is travelling with the Doctor.</em>
</p><p><em>It's a Catch 22. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Scylla and Charybdis. There's so many words, so many phrases to apply to choices like this, but there aren't any guides on what to do, </em>April thought.</p><p>
  <em>Well, in books, everyone takes the third option.</em>
</p><p><em>What </em>is <em>the third option? </em>April wondered. <em>How do I cheat this test?</em></p><p>
  <em>Well, think. If a TV show prepared you for this—</em>
</p><p><em>Not exactly prepared</em>, April thought sadly, staring at the pattern of the blue tiles on the floor. Pale, sky colored squares were mixed with royal blue rectangles about the size of two small tiles put together. All throughout, there were larger squares, the equivalent of four small ones or two of the rectangular tiles, a light blue that wasn't as pale as the small squares or as dark as the darker rectangles.</p><p><em>Fine. If a TV show is helping you survive this, why can't books, or movies, or whatever? How </em>did <em>Odysseus survive Scylla and Charybdis?</em></p><p>
  <em>I'm not sure—I think he was shipwrecked and his crew died, though. Yeah, that's not a good idea. And I don't actually know what Catch 22 is except that it's a book and it has airplanes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What about the Giant's Drink? Like in Ender's Game?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'm pretty sure there's not a giant that I can attack who's forcing me to make a choice. How do I take the third option here?</em>
</p><p>April sighed, getting up and washing her hands yet again. They felt heavy, as if they were covered in something that made them numb and leaden.</p><p>
  <em>The question is, where are we—Harriet and I, that is—less likely to get killed?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>No. That is not the question. The question is where are we the least likely to get other people killed? Because I've been wondering at the first question for days, now, and I still don't have a good answer.</em>
</p><p><em>It's simple, though, isn't it</em>, April thought. <em>Really, it is. Because out there, there's people who want to shoot me dead. On Earth, there would be people who would torture me for information if they found out what I knew. And </em>then <em>kill me.</em></p><p><em>No, they wouldn't, because you would tell them everything they wanted to know, and you know that. Oh, you can deny the numbers when it's foggy, unclear. Saving the Master of the Revels </em>might <em>get you noticed, but you'll "cross that bridge when you come to it". But if it comes down to traitor or death, morally ambiguous or unbearable pain, the choice is easy. Wrong, but easy. Most people in the real world aren't like heroes from books.</em></p><p>April frowned. The water was still flowing from the automatic faucet, cold and refreshing and entirely unnoticed.</p><p>
  <em>Also, Time Lords can read minds, so if the Master's the one that finds out about you it won't even come down to that, will it?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So…we stay.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'm totally gonna die. Can you make a will if you're not seventeen yet?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Not necessarily. And no. I don't think. I wonder, though…</em>
</p><p>April sat down next to Harriet on the Tardis floor, wearing a blue hoodie that she had found in the TARDIS. "You okay?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"<em>I'm not going to be that hero,"</em> April had told herself when she was younger. <em>"I'd never be that idiot who says they're fine when they're really rather obviously not." </em>"I'm fine," she lied, making an effort to smile reassuringly.</p><p>"You would say if something was wrong, right?" Harriet said. "Ever since we got here, you haven't been yourself."</p><p>"Neither have you," April pointed out. "I mean, this is weird; of course I'm not going to act like normal."</p><p>"Yeah…" Harriet said. "All of this fighting aliens isn't as fun as I thought it would be."</p><p>"No kidding," April said.</p><p>"But…" A grin broke across Harriet's face. "Imagine Elaine and Ava's faces if they could see us. Moaning about travelling with the Doctor. Time and Space, April, and we're gonna see it!"</p><p>"Can we go to your planet?" Martha was asking the Doctor.</p><p>"Ah, there's plenty of other worlds to visit."</p><p>"Come on, though, you've been all over Earth, you know loads about us. I don't even know what your species is called." <em>That's not right</em>, April thought. Martha was supposed to know, he was supposed to tell her that night when he picked her up. "Do you two know what kind of alien he is?" She asked, turning to Harriet and April.</p><p>"Time Lord," the Doctor interrupted before one of them could answer her question. "My people are called the Time Lords." Harriet stood up, and April followed her lead.</p><p>"Time Lords," Martha laughed. "Like that's not pretentious. Well, planet of the Time Lords. That's got to be worth a look."</p><p>"Nah, where's the fun for me? I don't want to go home. Instead, this is much better. Year five billion and fifty-three, planet New Earth. Second hope of mankind. Fifty thousand light years from your old world, and we're slap bang in the middle of New New York. Although, technically, it's the fifteenth New York from the original, so it's New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. One of the most dazzling cities ever built." He opened the door, letting Martha leave before him. Harriet pulled April to her feet and rushed over, tugging her friend along with her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. New New York</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>April and Harriet arrive on New New New...etc. Earth. Figuring out what to do it hard, but not doing it if you know is even harder.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Immediately, April regretted not taking an umbrella, however suspicious it would be. The rain poured down on her, and she wondered why it rained if the undercity was fully closed off. She shuddered. The streets were full of trash and likely covered in chemicals. If this was all the water the city had, then it wasn't likely to be very safe.</p><p>"Oh, that's nice," Martha joked. "Alien version of dazzling."</p><p>"Nah, bit of rain never hurt anyone. Come on, let's get under cover!" They ducked under the eaves of one of the reddish-brown buildings, their feet splashing in the puddles. April wiped her glasses, trying to get the water off, but all she accomplished was smudging them with her shirt.</p><p>As they walked along, trying to find the undercity, April looked around with great interest. The brick walls were plastered with decaying notices and the occasional splotch of green or white paint. She could see into one of the buildings through the window. It was a small, brown room, with a chair in the center and one of the walls ripped out. Rubble was strewn across the floor, and there was barely anything in the way of furniture. A small grey box was wide open, holding what looked like rotting food. April wrinkled her nose.</p><p>One poster pictured a flashy new hovercar. This one was recent, and the rain hadn't eaten away at the plastic coating yet, although with the amount of pollution in this place April assumed it was only a matter of time. "THE HOMECAR," it said in giant yellow writing. "EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN ONE, FUEL-EFFICIENT MODULE." She watched as another notice fluttered to the ground, whatever had been sticking it to the building completely eroded. "HAYVIEW ONLINE SCHOOLS ARE NOW CLOSED," it announced. "SEE HEADQUARTERS ON 33 KELLY STREET FOR OTHER RESOURCES."</p><p>Finally, they entered the street with the vendors. "What do we do?" Harriet asked as the Doctor began to scan something with his sonic screwdriver.</p><p>"Let it play out," April whispered back.</p><p>"Yeah, you say that and then you don't."</p><p>"I don't plan to mess anything up," April said quietly. People were going to die. People already had died. She struggled to remember the plot of the episode, not wanting to make any mistakes. If only she had realized that Lilith was going to kill that woman at the inn, April might have been able to save her life. <em>What was her name?</em> April had heard it before, but she couldn't remember. She'd been more worried about not dying.</p><p><em>This time</em>, she resolved, <em>I'm going to stay out of it. Stay with Brannigan and…what was her name? Emily? No, something else. I'll stay with them, and let the rest play out. Oh, and it's stopped raining. That's good, right?</em></p><p>"We stay with Brannigan and Valerie, yeah?" Harriet asked. <em>Valerie! That was her name.</em></p><p>"Yeah," she agreed. "I promise, I won't go off and do something stupid." Just then, a hatch opened in one of the stalls.</p><p>"Oh!" Said a man, excitedly. "You should have said! How long have you been there?" He wore a dirty white shirt with buttons on both the left and right sides of his chest. His dark hair was short and messy, and styled into a short beard. Bottles of chemicals covered his stall, with samples and what April thought might be receipts stuck to a large white cabinet at the back. "Happy! You want happy!"</p><p>A middle-aged woman with dark skin opened her stall next, wearing the same white shirt as she shook one of her patches. Her black hair was held back with a white bandana, and although she didn't have a cabinet, her stall was covered in lists of moods. "Customers. Customers! We've got customers."</p><p>The third stall opened, revealing a woman with light brown hair and a round, friendly face. Her shirt was the dirtiest of them all, nearly brown with all the grime, although April supposed it could be just the shadows. "We're in business. Mother, open up the Mellow!"</p><p>"Happy, Happy, lovely happy Happy!" Called the man.</p><p>"Anger," said the woman with the bandana, "buy some Anger!"</p><p>"Get some Mellow," the woman with the brown hair interrupted. "Makes you feel all bendy and soft all day long." April frowned, disgusted, but the feeling soon switched to worry as she found her mind wandering. <em>What if the carjackers don't take Martha? What if they take me, or Harriet?</em></p><p><em>That's alright</em>, she reassured herself. <em>You know what to do. Have them turn off the ship, then at about 2-minutes make a speech about how the Doctor will save us. At about one-minute left, get them to turn it back on and fly. Everything works out fine. Whoever isn't taken will just stay with Brannigan. </em>"The car's got to turn back on at two minutes of oxygen," she whispered to Harriet.</p><p>"Why do I need to know?"</p><p>"Just in case." Harriet nodded.</p><p>"Thanks."</p><p>A young woman wondered into the street, her hair and face pale as if she had never felt the sunlight. <em>Probably hasn't</em>, April thought. She was wrapped in rough, frayed brown cloth that covered her head.</p><p>"Over here, sweetheart! That's it, come on, I'll get you first!"</p><p>"Oi! Oi, you! Over here! Over here! Buy some Happy!"</p><p>"Come over here, yeah," said the woman with the friendly face. "And what can I get you, my love?"</p><p>"I want to buy Forget."</p><p>"I've got Forget, my darling. What strength? How much do you want forgetting?"</p><p>"It's my mother and father," said the girl. "They went on the motorway." April couldn't believe someone actually wanted to forget her parents. Even if she was stuck here, even if she died here, and never saw her family again, she would want to remember them. And April wondered why they had left without her, if she would have given them access to the Fastlane. Did they take her aunt or uncle with them? A grandparent? <em>What if they took a sibling?</em> April wondered.</p><p>"Oh, that's a swine. Try this. Forget 43. That's two credits." The girl passed the credits over and took the patch in her pale fingers. <em>What if they took a sibling and left her behind because there wasn't room? I might want to forget if my parents chose one of my brothers over me.</em></p><p>
  <em>Oh, shut up, you wouldn't.</em>
</p><p><em>Yeah. How can she just want to forget?</em> April wondered. <em>It would be like losing part of who you are.</em></p><p>"Sorry, but hold on a minute," the Doctor said. "What happened to your parents?"</p><p>"They drove off," she said.</p><p>"Yeah, but they might drive back."</p><p>"Everyone goes to the motorway in the end. I've lost them." <em>Wait a second…her parents will be freed, and she won't remember them!</em> April thought as realization struck. <em>That's terrible!</em> She needed to do something to help her—</p><p>"But they can't have gone far. You could find them!" <em>I'm not going to do anything stupid</em>, April reminded herself, remembering her promise to Harriet. The girl sighed a tired sigh and stuck the patch to her neck. "no. No, no, don't!"</p><p>"I'm sorry," said the girl, her voice ethereal. The Doctor froze, the hand that had been reaching out to her dropping. "What were you saying?"</p><p>"Your parents," the Doctor said. "Your mother and father. They're on the motorway.</p><p>"Are they?" She asked. "That's nice. I'm sorry, I won't keep you." The young woman seemed to float away, wandering back home amongst the brown brick buildings and trash-covered street.</p><p>"So that's the human race five billion years in the future. Off their heads in chemicals," Martha said. <em>What if I let them take me?</em> She wondered. <em>The butterfly effect could make Martha act differently. Whereas I know what I have to do.</em></p><p>
  <em>No, no, nothing stupid!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But—</em>
</p><p>Before she could finish her argument, two people burst out of the white chemical gas that obscured the end of the street, grabbing Martha. A man with short hair and a navy-blue jacket grabbed her while his wife, a woman with long, curly brown hair and a hand covered in bracelets and rings pointed a gun at the three of them. All three of the mood-vendors closed their stalls, unwilling to get involved.</p><p>"I'm sorry," the man said. "I'm really, really sorry. We just need three. That's all."</p><p>"No, let her go!" The Doctor yelled. Harriet and April inched backwards. "I'm warning you, let her go! Whatever you want, I can help. All of us, we can help! But first you've got to let her go."</p><p>"I'm sorry," the woman said, still pointing her gun as the man dragged Martha through a green door on the side of the street. "I'm really sorry. Sorry." The Doctor ran after them, and Harriet and April followed anxiously. They slipped through a heavy green door, locking it behind them. The Doctor sonic-ed it, running through a long white corridor. The two girls followed him, April immediately finding herself out of breath.</p><p>They burst out on a red fire escape just as the dingy grey motorcar flew away, leaving the three alone in the chemical-smelling air. "Maaarthaaa!" The Doctor yelled. Then he spun around, turning on them. "You knew this would happen," he said. It wasn't a question.</p><p>Harriet nodded nervously.</p><p>"You were expecting it; you didn't even look surprised."</p><p>"We could've told you," April said, "if you just let us, we could've told you."</p><p>The Doctor looked out at grey streets, frustrated. "Whether you've been engineered to be psychic or time-sensitive…if you told me, you could tear the universe apart." He grimaced. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."</p><p>"We're not time sensitive and we haven't been…" April trailed off. They were wasting time. If the Doctor didn't hurry, then he might not open the motorway before Martha and the two carjackers died.</p><p>"I lost her," the Doctor said. "I brought her here and I lost her…" He ran his hand through his hair. "Can you feel it?"</p><p>"Feel what?" Harriet asked. The Doctor shook his head.</p><p>"A paradox. Hanging over our heads. And it's..." He stared past April's shoulder for a moment, looking at the brick building behind her, thinking. Calculating. "It's surrounding you two."</p><p>"Which means...what?" April asked.</p><p>"A paradox is something that should be impossible, that doesn't follow the laws of reason and linear time. But when someone destroys the paradox, breaks the loop or renders the future impossible, that's even worse." The Doctor paused. "You can't reveal anything. Not a single word. Don't try to change the future that you know is coming. Do you understand?" April nodded solemnly. <em>A paradox? How can it be a paradox if we only know a possible future, a future that we've already changed?</em> "Well, then." He grinned. "Allons-y!" The Doctor dashed back through the hallway, April and Harriet following, and hammered on one of the closed hatches. Slowly, the stalls began to open.</p><p>"Thought you'd come back," said the light-haired vendor. "Do you want some happy Happy?"</p><p>"Those people, who were they? Where did they take her?" The Doctor asked.</p><p>"They've taken her to the motorway," the man said.</p><p>"Looked like carjackers to me."</p><p>"I'd give up now, darling."</p><p>"Used to be thriving this place…but they always go to the motorway in the end."</p><p>"He kept on saying three, we need three. What did he mean, three?"</p><p>"It's the car-sharing policy, to save fuel," one of the vendors said, frowning. "You get special access if you're carrying three adults."</p><p>"How do we get to there?" Harriet asked. "To the motorway."</p><p>"Straight down the alley, keep going to the end. You can't miss it. Tell you what. How about some happy Happy? Then you'll be smiling, my love."</p><p>"Word of advice, all of you. Cash up, close down, and pack your bags."</p><p>The vendor with the light hair scrunched up her face. "And why's that, then?" She asked, squinting.</p><p>"Because as soon as I've found her, alive and well—and I will find her alive and well—then I'm coming back, and this street is closing tonight!" He strode off into the strange gas that hung around the street.</p><p>"And you, dears? Happy Happy?" Asked the woman.</p><p>"No!" April said.</p><p>"Uh, we're with him," Harriet explained, following the Doctor through the street.</p><p>The buildings were obscured by the white gas, and several times April nearly tripped over a can that was lying on the street. She read everything she could find, interested in learning as much about this strange new world as possible. There were a few red and green cans that seemed to have held some sickly-sweet smelling gas. A few blue ones were marked "WAY'S WATER—GUARANTEED CLEAN!" and she found a purple one with "BREATHE MIX…YOUR PERFECT AIR" printed on its side in hot pink letters.</p><p>"You'd think they'd have moved beyond pollution," Harriet said as they walked. "I mean, this is our future, isn't it?"</p><p>"Humanity," the Doctor said. "Changes so much, but always reverts back to the same thing. Still, you do learn. Eventually." They reached the end of the street. "We're here." April pulled the hood of her blue hoodie around to cover her mouth and nose as the Doctor sonic-ed open the thick grey door.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The Motorway</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Martha's been taken. As they wait on the motorway, April and Harriet need to decide what to do next - but a surprise is lurking just around the corner.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they stepped through, April couldn't believe her eyes. It was one thing to see the motorway on television and quite another to see it with her own eyes. The walls were stone grey, dull and covered in piping. Hovercars filled the air, both farther up and farther down than she could see. The far wall, too, was obscured by the thick yellow exhaust fumes. Even the thick cloth of her hood held over her face wasn't enough to keep her from choking on the gas.</p><p>April became aware of how flimsy the metal platform of the entrance was. She could fall, down through the smog-filled tunnel. It was unlikely that she'd survive the impact, but there always was a chance. April had read that people could sometimes survive massive falls if they were drunk in a book, though she didn't remember its name. Although she certainly wasn't drunk, the fumes might do the same to her, if the air disturbance of her fall didn't somehow push them out of the way. She wasn't certain if that was possible, but it felt like it ought to be. But here, even if she did reach the ground alive, the Macra would kill her, a trespasser in their land.</p><p>The door of the nearest hovercar slid open, revealing a tall man wearing a mask over his mouth and goggles over his eyes. <em>Brannigan</em>, April remembered. She didn't know many of the names of the guest characters, but his somehow stuck in her head. "Hey! You daft little street struts. What are you doing standing there? Either get out or get in!" The Doctor, Harriet, and April hurried into the car.</p><p>It was tiny, and there was barely enough room for them to squeeze in. A light brown curtain sectioned off the car, and the front half was dominated by the console and seats. The hovercar was full of dials and bright lights, mostly blue and red. Brannigan removed his mask to reveal an orange, fur-covered face. His wife, in the seat next to them, had dark hair and a fuzzy white and brown sweater.</p><p>"Did you ever see the like?" Brannigan said.</p><p>"Here you go," the woman said as she passed the Doctor an oxygen mask. April and Harriet, having shielded their faces, were able to go without it. "Are you sure we've got enough room?" She asked.</p><p>"Of course," Brannigan told her. "There's this story, says back in the old days, on Junction forty-seven, this woman stood in the exhaust fumes for a solid twenty-minutes. By the time they found her, her head had swollen to fifty-feet."</p><p>"Oh, you're making it up."</p><p>"A fifty-foot head! Just think of it. Imagine picking that nose."</p><p>'Ew,' Harriet mouthed.</p><p>"Oh, stop it. That's disgusting," insisted the curly-haired woman.</p><p>"What, did you never pick your nose?"</p><p>"Bran, we're moving."</p><p>"Right," Brannigan said. "I'm there. I'm on it." The car moved forwards as the air filled with the sound of beeping. "Twenty yards. We're having a good day. And who might you be, sir, miss, miss?"</p><p>"Sorry, I'm the Doctor."</p><p>"Harriet," Harriet supplied.</p><p>"I'm April."</p><p>"Name's Thomas Kincaid Brannigan, and this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie."</p><p>"Nice to meet you," said Valerie.</p><p>"And that's the rest of the family behind you." The Doctor drew back the curtain to reveal a basket of mewling kittens with several others wandering around the rest of the space. The Doctor picked one up, so April figured it was okay to pet them. Besides, Harriet had already sat down near the basket and let one of the kittens on her lap. It was a small one, with sleek black fur and giant yellow-green eyes.</p><p>"I wonder how they're possible?" April said as the Doctor learnt the necessary information from Brannigan and Valerie. "I mean, humans can't exactly give birth to cats, can they?"</p><p>"Why not?" The Doctor asked, overhearing.</p><p>"They just <em>can't</em>," April said. The Doctor shrugged and continued his conversation. April hoped that they hadn't already changed the timing.</p><p>"I dunno," Harriet said. She didn't seem to care about the giant scientific mystery.</p><p>April shook her head. "Maybe she's descended from a cat person? Or the kids could've been created by mixing the genes outside the mother, or something. Something tech-y. It makes about as much sense as Logopolitans feeding on Lithium, which makes none at all."</p><p>Harriet shrugged, then leaned in to whisper. "So, the paradox. Why's there a paradox?"</p><p>"I don't know," April said. After looking around to make sure the Doctor was absorbed in the conversation, she leaned in too. "It could have to do with Boe's message. Wow, we really need a code or something. We've been terrible at planning things so far."</p><p>"Maybe," Harriet said.</p><p>"Boe's message, Boe's message…" <em>How could that cause a paradox?</em> "Oh. What if we somehow cause it to be untrue, somehow?"</p><p>"Well, he won't give his message, will he?" Harriet asked. "Because we'll fix everything. Even if we can't tell the Doctor, we can stop you-know-who from opening the you-know-what."</p><p>"I wasn't aware we were talking about Voldemort," April said, but she was already thinking. "What if somehow, giving his message is what makes us do something to change the future. Our future, his past. What if the message itself is what causes us to stop it?"</p><p>The Doctor was sonicking the communications system. "I need to talk to the police," he said.</p><p>"It wouldn't, though, would it?" Harriet asked. "If anything, it would lock us out of stopping it."</p><p>"No," April said. "Time can be rewritten. If we fix it because of his message, then he won't give us the message, then we won't fix it because we didn't get the message, so he'll give us the message, and then we'll fix it because of his message." Her voice had risen.</p><p>"Shh," Harriet whispered, looking nervously over at the Doctor.</p><p>"I wonder," she said quietly, "what anyone picking us up on recording would think we're saying. Could that cause a paradox?"</p><p>"No one's listening, though," Harriet said. "That's the whole thing about this episode, isn't it?"</p><p>"Yeah," April said. "It would be much better, that way, though. If we just had to shut up." There was a pause as they watched Brannigan call those two old women.</p><p>"Still your hearts, my handsome girls," Brannigan joked. "It's Brannigan here."</p><p>"What if that's the paradox?" April said.</p><p>"What if what's the paradox?"</p><p>"What if somehow the Face of Boe's message could prevent us from trying?"</p><p>"How would that work?"</p><p>"I don't know!" April said, frustrated. "Maybe…what if the butterfly effect causes Boe to not exist if we're there. Like, it went fine—well, not fine, but much better than it could've been—in the show, but if we're there we somehow step on a butterfly or something and cause it to go poorly?"</p><p>"I'm not following," Harriet admitted.</p><p>"What if we tell Boe to fake it?" April asked. "Because somehow it's necessary. What if us being there during the finale causes it to go south, and somehow, we get J—um, Boe, killed? Thus, a paradox. <em>If</em> we fail and, um, you-know-who does you-know-what. So, what if his message, faked because of some strange law of time, makes us think we can't risk stopping him? And so, we cause a paradox?" <em>Wishful thinking</em>, that annoying part of her said.</p><p><em>Shut up</em>, she told it.</p><p>"You mean…what if we tell Boe to fake the message? Even though we make it not true. Because it has to be done to keep his actions consistent? And what if our existence here would get him killed somehow, so he couldn't be here to deliver the message? And we need to ignore that the message seems to be a paradox if we stop you-know-who?" Harriet said, placing the kitten back in the basket. It crept out, back onto her lap, and she smiled wistfully. April nodded. "I wish."</p><p>"Yeah," April said. "It's probably not correct, is it? Simplest explanation is usually correct. Someone famous came up with that."</p><p>"Are you sure about that?" Harriet said doubtfully.</p><p>"Ocean's Laser or something, except I know there was another R in there somewhere."</p><p>"Not your game theory thing, the 'it's probably not correct'."</p><p>"I don't know," April said. "That's why I said 'probably'. I certainly hope not."</p><p>"But the simplest explanation, like you said. That we can't stop you-know-who from doing you-know-what, and the message has the potential to cause us to stop him."</p><p>"Utopia was a string of bad coincidences," April said. "It should be really easy to change something tiny, fix it. I really hope we can." She sighed, picking up one of the kittens and placing it on her lap. After she pet it for a few moments, it got up and walked away. "The issue is that the two hypothesis-es are mutually exclusive."</p><p>"Hypothesis-es?"</p><p>"Hypotheses?" April tried. It sounded better to her, so she went with it. "The two hypotheses are mutually exclusive. We can't listen and not listen. But one of them's going to cause a paradox."</p><p>"Not necessarily," Harriet said. "It could be something completely different."</p><p>"Like what?"</p><p>"I don't know." There was a pause.</p><p>"Oh, I remember! It was Occam's Razor!"</p><p>"That doesn't sound like a real thing."</p><p>"It's real," April said. "I'm sure of it."</p><p>"I'm <em>sure</em>," Harriet rolled her eyes. "Where did you hear it, then?"</p><p>"Um…" April trailed off.</p><p>"Well?"</p><p>"Um, a Harry Potter fanfiction, but…" She trailed off, then quickly steered the topic back on course. "The Doctor said the paradox is around us, right?" April asked. Harriet nodded.</p><p>The blue screen at the front of the car turned on, revealing a pretty-looking woman with light hair and a smile. "This is Sally Calypso, and it's that time again. The sun is blazing high in the sky over the New Atlantic, the perfect setting for the daily contemplation."</p><p>"You think you know us so well, Doctor," Brannigan said. "But we're not abandoned. Not while we have each other."</p><p>"This is for all of you out there on the roads. We're so sorry. Drive safe." A choir began to sing softly, and April could hear Brannigan and Valerie joining in the song. She had never heard it before, but she could see Harriet joining in too. It sounded religious, but more than that, it was what kept the people on this motorway going. Because if they gave up, if they thought no one cared for them, it would be chaos. And this is what helped them go through each day, turning 'survival' into 'living'. Even here, there was a sense of solidarity, even when everything else was terrible, and they knew deep down that the only people they had was each other. This was their song, that those on the motorway sung together, at the same time each day. And for that, it was beautiful.</p><p>April mouthed the lyrics a second behind the others, although she didn't know the song, humming out the notes quietly. When the song finished, the Doctor was the only one who wasn't singing.</p><p>"If you won't take me," the Doctor said, "I'll go down on my own." He ran over to the back of the car.</p><p>"What do you think you're doing?" Brannigan asked.</p><p>"Finding my own way. I usually do." He sonicked open the trapdoor in the hovercar's floor. "April, Harriet, I'm coming back. Just stay here, and don't wander off."</p><p>"There's not anywhere to go," Harriet pointed out.</p><p>"Here we go," the Doctor said, removing his coat and handing it to April.</p><p>"Look after this. I love that coat. Janis Joplin gave me that coat." April looked down at the coat in her arms. She wasn't exactly sure who Janis Joplin was, but she filed the fact away for later and wondered whether it had been said in the episode.</p><p>"But you can't jump," Valerie protested.</p><p>"This Martha," Brannigan said. "She must mean an awful lot to you."</p><p>"Hardly know her," the Doctor said. "I was too busy showing off." He climbed out of the trapdoor. "Bye then." The Doctor dropped down onto the top of the hovercar below them as April fumbled around with the hatch, trying to close it while coughing violently.</p><p>"He's completely insane!" Valerie said.</p><p>"That, and a bit magnificent!" Brannigan told her. "Well, you two might as well make yourselves comfortable."</p><p>"Does he do this often?" Valerie asked.</p><p>Both Harriet and April nodded. "Don't worry," Harriet said. "He'll be absolutely fine."</p><p>"If we haven't messed up the timing," April muttered. <em>Well, he told us not to interfere, and this is where we can be doing the </em>least <em>interference.</em></p><p>"So," Valerie said conversationally. "Where're you from?"</p><p>"Um, New York?" Harriet said hesitantly.</p><p>"You're from the overcity then?" Brannigan asked.</p><p>"No," April said. "It's a bit complicated."</p><p>"And where'd you meet this Doctor?"</p><p>Harriet looked over at April with her 'think-of-a-lie' look. "Um, we're related," April said. "Harriet's my sister, and he's my uncle. We hadn't met him until a few days ago, actually, he won't tell us where he's from. But our parents…they went on the motorway." She thought of the girl who had gone to buy the 'forget' patch. "Took our older brother with them, but didn't have enough room for us. So, the Doctor came since he's our uncle, and we met Martha, she got stuck here, and then Martha got carjacked so we went to find her."</p><p>"What's his name?" Valerie asked. "It's not just the Doctor, is it?"</p><p>"John Smith," Harriet said, a little too quickly.</p><p>"He's not your uncle, is he?" Brannigan guessed.</p><p>"Yes, he is," April lied. "We just don't know him very well."</p><p>"Eh, you don't bicker enough to be sisters," Brannigan said. "Believe me, I've had several."</p><p>"We're making an effort to be friendly?" April tried, but it sounded too much like a question. "Shared tragedy, family bonding."</p><p>"It's not really our business," Valerie told Brannigan, placing a hand on his arm. There was silence for a little while, punctuated only by the occasional beep of a car.</p><p>"What're their names?" Harriet asked, gesturing to the kittens.</p><p>"Oh," said Valerie. "That's Thomas Jr., Reynie, Alison over there, Dave, Katherine, Liz, Jackson, Kincaid, and that little one hiding behind the basket is Ernie."</p><p>"They're adorable," Harriet said, smiling. "Aren't you, Kincaid? Aren't you an adorable little kitty?"</p><p>The hovercar shook. "What's that?" April asked nervously. It shook again, more violently this time, as a thin orange line began to appear on the ceiling their hovercar.</p><p>Brannigan grimaced. "Pirates."</p><p>"There's pirates here?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"This wasn't supposed to happen!" April said, looking around for something she could use to fight them off. Brannigan grabbed what appeared to be a gun, although he held it much too easily for it to be real. Valerie began urging the kittens into the space below the bench in the back, hiding them.</p><p>"Harriet, April," she said, handing them both large, metal pipes. "Stay back there, don't use 'em unless we tell you to, okay?" Harriet nodded.</p><p><em>Yeah, like I'm capable of fighting off armed motorway pirates with a metal pipe</em>, April thought.</p><p>"Pirates?" Harriet whispered to April. "This didn't happen in the show."</p><p>"I know," April said quietly. "Butterfly effect?" It was all she could think of. "Or something." The red line on the top of the car became two, then three, then a glowing box, and that part of the ceiling dropped to the floor with a clang.</p><p>"I'm warning you!" Brannigan shouted. "We're armed!" And then the pirates dropped down, and it became quite clear that they weren't motorway pilots at all.</p><p>"I guess it's Something," Harriet said weakly.</p><p>There were three 'pirates', all carrying massive grey guns and wearing black uniforms with sturdy combat boots. They had shining badges on their shirts with the letters "TA" engraved into the metal. All three of them wore Vortex Manipulators on their arms, and they formed a defensive circle, facing all the directions.</p><p>The first of them was startlingly young, appearing barely out of college, if that. She had dirty-blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, her skin smooth and free of blemishes. The girl smiled sweetly, but her eyes were cold and hard, and April knew she wouldn't hesitate to kill.</p><p>Next to her was a man who appeared to be in his late twenties, his hair cropped short, military style. He had dark skin and hair, and was pointing his gun at Valerie, his face apologetic.</p><p>The third trespasser, though, made Harriet gasp and April's face morph into one of pure shock. He had black hair and blue eyes, and conducted himself as if he was in charge of the world. And both girls knew him very well. This was John Barrowman, no, Captain Jack Harkness—Time Agent, con-man, companion, and fixed point in time. And he was pointing a gun at Brannigan, smiling.</p><p>"Right," he said. "Let me make this clear. We're going to do this the easy way, because I'm not in the mood for games. You'll follow my instructions, or you won't have time to regret it."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. The Time Agents</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>April and Harriet must stop the Time Agents from killing them. Help comes from an unexpected source.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Out!" Brannigan shouted, brandishing his gun.</p><p>"Fake," Captain Jack said. "Am I right? Don't worry, we've been watching you on surveillance. Thomas Kincaid Brannigan and Valerie. You've got your children in the back. Hidden, along with the hitchhikers." He smirked, the silent threat very near to the surface.</p><p>"You two, out," said the blonde woman, motioning with her gun towards where April and Harriet were hiding. "Or we start shooting, and our aim isn't that good through a curtain. Who knows whom we'd hit? Kitties…kiddies…no difference."</p><p>Harriet looked at April questioningly, and they both pushed the curtain aside, coming out with their hands up. "What do you want?" April asked nervously. Captain Jack was one of the good guys in the show, but she remembered that he had used to be a con-man, and before that, a Time Agent. She wasn't sure what he was like back then, but if this was it, he certainly wouldn't be a hero.</p><p>"You didn't say they were kids," said the other male Time Agent. The female Time Agent who rolled her eyes.</p><p>"Who are you?" Valerie asked, turning around in her seat to look Jack in the eyes.</p><p>"Magnus Smith," said Jack. <em>That must be another one of his aliases</em>, thought April. "I'd offer you my hand, but I'm a bit busy right now." He hefted the gun. The young woman gave him a glare. "Grayle's telling me we're supposed to get on with our job."</p><p>"Which is what?" Brannigan asked. "Yer not pirates, that's for certain."</p><p>"Those two," he said, gesturing over to April and Harriet. "Someone has to get rid of them. Practically walking paradoxes."</p><p><em>What? </em>April thought. How was Jack here anyway? This was in the year 5 billion, if she remembered correctly—since Cassandra was still here—far after when he came from, sometime between the fortieth and sixtieth centuries. She couldn't remember exactly when. Then again, he was a Time Agent, but she was pretty sure they were only able to travel into the past, rather than the future. <em>Otherwise, they could've prevented being destroyed, right? Because the Time Agency isn't around for long. I think.</em></p><p>
  <em>Focus on the people with guns trying to murder you.</em>
</p><p>"If you're going to kill us," April said, her voice wavering, "why haven't you already?" Were they here because of their knowledge? Did they want to use it to prevent them from being destroyed? If so, they were out of luck. She knew very little about the Time Agency.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe you shouldn't point out to the people trying to kill you that it would be smarter to just kill you rather than talking about it.</em>
</p><p>"Because we've got some questions to ask you." One of the Time Agents used some strange device on his wrist to replace the part of the ceiling that they had removed. "The innocents'll be safe enough if you stay our of our way."</p><p>"We're innocents," Harriet pointed out.</p><p>"I'll be damned if I let you harm our guests!" Brannigan said.</p><p>"If I were you," Jack said conversationally, "I'd realize that there's three of us with guns against you with a fake gun and a metal pipe. Really, we have nothing against you, or against them either. This is necessary."</p><p>"Why's that?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"Oh, surely you know," Jack said. "I'm not expecting you to do the right thing on your own. But you've got to realize why it's got to be done? No? Don't pretend we didn't hear you talking, you-know-who doing you-know-what. Paradox detectors going off the wall—it took a while to hack the vortex manipulators to stop trying to teleport us away. You know very well your knowledge is dangerous."</p><p>"So, you're going to remove it," April said, her mouth dry. She wasn't sure how to get out of this, but she knew she had to keep them talking. "By killing us."</p><p>"You didn't say they were kids," the Time Agent who was watching Valerie repeated.</p><p>"I didn't know, Parker," he said, frustrated. "This is top-secret, they don't exactly give out information like candy."</p><p>"You get cold feet," said the woman, Grayle, "you get fired." Parker gulped, and April wondered if that would mean his death. He seemed nice enough, if he wasn't trying to kill them. "The questions, Smith."</p><p>"Right," he said. "Who have you told?"</p><p>"Why would we tell you?" April asked, even though she knew perfectly well why they would tell the Time Agents. They had hostages. "You're going to kill us either way, and, and you seem to want this over with, not messy."</p><p>"We kill the kids if you don't," Jack said. April couldn't believe he was saying this, Captain Jack Harkness, who had worked to save Earth so many times.</p><p>"You wouldn't," Harriet said quietly. <em>Would he?</em> April wondered. <em>Could be bluffing, probably </em>is <em>bluffing. But what if he </em>isn't<em>?</em></p><p>"And why not?"</p><p>"'cos that'd attract attention," Harriet said.</p><p>"Just another death on the motorway," said the woman. "No one would notice, care. Smith, we're wasting time. Kill one of them."</p><p>Jack leveled his gun and spun around to point it at the back. "Aren't you supposed to be the good guys?" April asked. No clear reaction, though she thought she saw something flicker behind Jack's eyes. "Someone could trace you," April tried. "If you did that, someone could trace you here."</p><p>"Nice try," he said. "But it's not going to work. Just tell us who knows about you, and this is over. Nice, quick deaths, much more pleasant than if I brought you back to the Time Agency."</p><p>"What do we do?" Harriet whispered.</p><p>
  <em>Use your knowledge of the future.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, like what?</em>
</p><p>"We're taking too long," Grayle said. "Kill one of them to show we're serious." There was a moment of silence, so she shrugged and pulled the safety on the gun, a finger on her right hand resting snugly on the trigger as she opened the curtain with her left hand.</p><p>"No!" Harriet shouted.</p><p>"Well?"</p><p>"The Doctor," April said. "We told the Doctor."</p><p>"Anyone else?" Asked Parker. <em>What do I do?</em> April thought. The Time Agents were serious about killing them, and it would take the Doctor too long to get there.</p><p>"Kill them," Grayle said.</p><p>"We have to be certain," Jack reminded her.</p><p>"Kill them."</p><p>"Wait!" April said. <em>Top-secret, top-secret…</em> "Don't we get a last request or something? A priest?" Grayle raised her gun. <em>Top-secret. Jack was missing two years of his memories. What if this is why—going on missions to the future and hunting down people with dangerous information. Until they decide he's unreliable, and wipe his memories.</em></p><p>Briefly, she considered telling him this. He'd believe her, surely, but she remembered what the Doctor had said. There was a paradox hanging over them. If she told him this, to save her life, it might work. And the universe might also get destroyed.</p><p>
  <em>Probably wouldn't work anyway.</em>
</p><p>So, this was it, was it? April was going to die for this knowledge, again. Somehow this was worse, more frightening than when she had gone to the Plasmavore. Then, she had known for certain that she would die, but it was alright. It was her choice, her choice to save the world, and however terrible it was, she at least had that. Her death helped. It was worth it. But here, she was going to die, and there was nothing she could do. She had always thought of how she would survive dangerous scenarios, and concluded that she could nearly always bargain with them, talk until someone more experienced than her showed up.</p><p>The Time Agents wouldn't bargain. She didn't have a way out. Yes, if it was her or they started killing people, she hoped she would choose to die, but at least then she'd know she had a decision. There was no decision here, just death everywhere she turned. Her death.</p><p>
  <em>Unless the Doctor can help, somehow. Or a miracle happens.</em>
</p><p>"I'm really sorry," said Parker. <em>Yeah, well, sorry doesn't cut it when your buddies are about to shoot us</em>, April thought. Valerie looked like she was going to cry, and Brannigan was eying the metal pipe, trying to gauge whether he could ever stand a chance of beating them.</p><p>Jack pointed his gun at April and Harriet. "Is there anyone else?" He asked. "Because if we find there was anyone else, you will regret it." <em>An empty threat</em>, April thought.</p><p>"Sorry," Parker said again.</p><p>Grayle rolled her eyes and pointed her gun straight at Harriet. "Just shoot them before they try anything clever."</p><p>April closed her eyes, because that's what people did in books when they were about to die. Besides, she didn't want her body lying on the ground, eyes like the glass ones on a doll, unseeing…</p><p>There was a flash of blinding light, and April instinctively raised a hand to cover her face. April slowly opened her eyes as someone else appeared in the room. He was tall, with floppy brown hair and a large nose, and looked to be about April and Harriet's age. Somehow, he was carrying a sonic screwdriver in his right hand. Spinning around in a circle, he had it light up.</p><p>April blinked. <em>What? But that's…</em></p><p>The boy turned towards the group of people staring at him in shock, and smiled. Brannigan took the opportunity to bash a surprised Jack in on the top of his head with his metal pipe, unleashing a strange battle cry that sounded something like a cat's yowl.</p><p>Jack tried to shoot him, but nothing came out of his gun. He cursed in anger.</p><p>"It did something to the energy conversion circuits. Wow, that sounds cool. Um, point and think, right, April?" Asked the boy. He raised the sonic screwdriver again, and the Time Agents disappeared in flashes of light. "Harriet. You're…"</p><p>"What…" Harriet said, squinting at him.</p><p>
  <em>That's Jeremy Rice. Well, I think so, at least. Might just be mixing up faces.</em>
</p><p>"But…"</p><p>"Yes, it's me." He said. <em>Right. So, there's one of them in this universe too. If there weren't too many already. And he knows us. And knows that we know him.</em></p><p><em>He's not the same idiot who ran over you with a car</em>, April reminded herself. <em>Grew up completely differently—he could be an amazing person, for all I know.</em></p><p>
  <em>That doesn't change his high level of stupidity, does it? I don't think even a parallel universe could do that. So why the heck did the Doctor give him a vortex manipulator, because that's that thing that he's wearing. And how come he's got the sonic screwdriver.</em>
</p><p>"How did you get that?" Harriet asked, motioning to the vortex manipulator on his arm. "And how are you…here?"</p><p>"I'm here because of the Vortex Manipulator. You gave it to me," he said. "Wait—was I supposed to tell you that?"</p><p>"Did you know what those people wanted?" Valerie asked. "Are you fugitives of some sort?"</p><p>"I don't…I don't think so," April said quietly. She was traveling in a time machine—for all she knew, she was a fugitive at one point in the future.</p><p>"I better be going," Jeremy said. "But here." From his jacket pocket he took two envelopes and handed one to Harriet and one to April. Abruptly, April noticed that his accent was American. <em>Didn't Mrs. Rice say that she and her son had lived in the UK all their lives? There's something here that definitely doesn't make sense.</em></p><p>"You're from the future?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"No, from the past. Um, well, sort of."</p><p>"Linearly?" April said. "I'm going to go with linearly. Subjectively, we're from your past and you're from our future."</p><p>"I don't really get what's going on, but apparently you do. Timey wimey." He shrugged. "April, open yours and memorize it. Then you've got to have it destroyed because—well, just do it. Harriet, April told me that you have to hold onto this, keep it safe. And you can't open it until after the sixth is over. Wouldn't tell me what of, but I've got suspicions. Of why, though, I've got no clue."</p><p>"<em>Another </em>hitchhiker?" Brannigan said, sizing him up. "Or are you a pirate too, sonny?" He brandished his pipe menacingly, and Jeremy held up his hands.</p><p>"Not a pirate, just passing through," he said. "I'm from the past."</p><p>"Oh, you're from the past, eh?" Brannigan asked, narrowing his eyes. Valerie put a hand on his arm.</p><p>"He's unarmed, dear," she reminded him.</p><p>"How do we know we can trust you?" April asked, shoving her envelope into her hoodie pocket. "And why, of all people, did we recruit <em>you</em> to help us with a stable time loop?" Even if the Jeremy in this world was a perfectly nice person—despite having a completely wrong accent and some serious discrepancies with his mother's story—she still would've gotten help from someone a lot more intelligent.</p><p>"Spoilers," Jeremy said. "You told me that should be enough to convince you. And well, you'd know. Seeing as this already happened for you when you told me."</p><p>"He wouldn't know to say that if we didn't tell him, would he?" Harriet asked April.</p><p>"Unless he saw the…you-know-what too," April reminded her.</p><p>"The Doctor says it doesn't exist," Harriet protested.</p><p>"Yeah, and he's not the one with the memories, is he?" April said. "Besides, we'd never ever try to get him as help; we'd go to UNIT or something."</p><p>"Does the Doctor know you're here?" Harriet asked Jeremy.</p><p>"You're saying that Doctor's also a time traveler?" Valerie asked, squinting.</p><p>"The Doctor's…" Jeremy's shoulders slumped. "No, he doesn't know."</p><p>"And you claim we sent you back to give us these envelopes?" April asked.</p><p>"Yeah. That's what you did."</p><p>"Jeremy Rice. Your name is Jeremy Rice."</p><p>"That's me," he said. "Look, you <em>have </em>to open the first one, and you can't open the second one yet. Until after whatever the sixth is. Unless that's already happened."</p><p><em>He looks like Jeremy Rice and talks like Jeremy Rice. And he's definitely as stupid as Jeremy Rice. But why would we ever get </em>him <em>of all people to help us? </em>"Jeremy Rice's mother lives in the UK. And she claims you do too," April said suspiciously.</p><p>"What?" Harriet asked, as if startled. "Oh. Yeah, at the hospital."</p><p>Jeremy paused for a moment, and then shook his head. "Spoilers. I can't explain it to you yet; you told me." He looked at the Vortex Manipulator. "I've got to go. Just whatever you do, don't tell the Doctor about the envelopes." He pressed something on the vortex manipulator, and April shielded her face from the flash of light. <em>What just happened?</em></p><p>"Can you explain to me," said Brannigan, setting his metal pipe down on the console beside him, "what manner of people those were, barging in here and trying to kill us. Did you know them?"</p><hr/><p>They were in the senate room of New New York. Behind them was a stone table with a decayed body, merely rags and bones. Above sat the senate of New Earth, their reign forever over, but their skeletons still lying in their seats. And at the end of the room was a shattered glass tank. The Face of Boe lay on the floor, his skin old and wrinkled and his eyes wise and sad. The Doctor, Martha, and the cat nun knelt by him as he breathed his final breaths.</p><p>"My Lord gave his life to save the city," said the cat-woman, "and now he's dying."</p><p>"No, don't say that. Not old Boe. Plenty of life left," the Doctor said as he too knelt beside the face lying on the ground.</p><p><strong>It is good to breathe the air once more</strong>,Boe said slowly. His lips didn't move, and April could hear his voice inside her head.</p><p>"Who is he?" Martha asked. <em>Jack</em>, April thought. <em>Captain Jack Harkness, who just tried to kill us.</em> She stayed back, afraid to approach. Beside her, she saw Harriet looking at the face quizzically.</p><p>"I don't even know," the Doctor said. "Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now."</p><p>
  <strong>Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most.</strong>
</p><p>"The legend says more," the cat-woman said.</p><p>"Don't. There's no need for that."</p><p>"It says the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveler."</p><p>As they thought, April could feel a tickling in the back of her head. And then, she heard the Face of Boe speak. <strong>The storm is coming.</strong></p><p><em>What does that mean? </em>She thought. <em>Storm—that means me, right? In symbolism. April Storm, the storm is coming. I'm coming? Where? From where?</em></p><p>
  <strong>Your choice. Your storm. Your moment. Time will run out.</strong>
</p><p><em>What? Boe, Jack, what does that mean? </em>April shook her head in frustration. <em>Why do people on adventures always have to talk in riddles! Just tell me the truth so I can save everyone!</em></p><p>
  <strong>You have changed much, and the future must not be locked in place. It must be your choice and your trial and your war.</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>I don't understand.</em>
</p><p><strong>Tell no one until the moment is at hand.</strong> And with that, April felt the tickling sensation vanish.</p><p><em>Boe! What do I do! How do I stop this? How do I fix this? Don't go! </em>April realized that she had echoed the Doctor, and she knew what came next in the dialog.</p><p><strong>I must</strong>, the Face of Boe thought. <strong>But know this, Time Lord.</strong></p><p>"No," April whispered. She could see Harriet beside her, staring at the Face of Boe in horror. "No, no, no, no, no."</p><p>The Face of Boe spoke for the last time, spoke his final, dread secret. "You. Are. Not. Alone."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. The Long Way Around</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>With Gridlock wrapping up, Team TARDIS arrives in Manhattan - but something is wrong.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"No," April whispered. She could see Harriet beside her, staring at the Face of Boe in horror. "No, no, no, no, no."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Face of Boe spoke for the last time, spoke his final, dread secret. "You. Are. Not. Alone."</em>
</p><hr/><p><em>So, we didn't fix it</em>, was April's first thought. <em>We messed up, and the Master's coming back.</em></p><p><em>Not necessarily</em>, she told herself. <em>Remember? The message can be faked. Right?</em> She didn't answer herself. Boe breathed his final breath, and then he rested forever, his eyes closing for the last time. The cat-nun wept over him, and April wondered what her name was. Hanna, or something like that. <em>At least she isn't dead. At least no one here died who wasn't supposed to.</em></p><p><em>Supposed to? I can't believe I just said that. Thought that. No one's </em>supposed<em> to die.</em></p><p>
  <em>At least I didn't make it worse. How's that?</em>
</p><p>"Come on," the Doctor said quietly, standing up. "We've got the TARDIS to get back to." Martha took one last look as they walked away.</p><p>As they walked through the overcity, April admired the beautiful spires and shining houses. Everything was bright and clean, and the trees appeared to be mostly fake. The sun shined down on New New York. <em>Not the sun</em>, April reminded herself. <em>A different star. That's not the sun I'm looking at.</em></p><p>By silent agreement, neither April nor Harriet mentioned the Time Agents or Jeremy Rice. They could discuss that later, when they were back in the TARDIS, but the Doctor finding out that something had happened could cause an untold number of problems. And they could tell him later, but they couldn't take back something they'd already said. Doctor Who was, by nature, a show that took a while to go from season premiere to finale. They'd have weeks, months, to tell him, to pool their information and find out what was going on.</p><p><em>But this doesn't necessarily have the same "finale" as the show</em>, April reminded herself. <em>It might not even have a finale at all. We might never figure out what's going on. And so many problems come from not sharing information, so it's probably better that we all know as much as possible as soon as possible.</em></p><p>
  <em>Then I'll advocate for telling him. But neither of us should tell the Doctor about this until we both agree.</em>
</p><p><em>Do we have to watch out for the Time Agents now?</em> April wondered.<em> Will they try to find us again? </em>Can <em>they find us again?</em></p><p><em>And how the heck did they find us in the first place? </em>April sighed, watching the people around her look at the city in awe. The intense colors, the sun, the fresh air…many of them had never been anywhere like this in their lives.</p><p>The windows on the tall buildings shimmered in the sun, and the sweet-smelling grass to the side of the walkways seemed to actually be real, despite the lack of gardeners in the past few decades. Children wearing dark clothes were running through it, trampling the lush grass as their laughter filled the air. They passed a garden, filled with deep blue flowers that April had never seen before in her life. A little girl with orange pigtails was placing one of them in the pink hair of a little boy.</p><p>All over the city, motorcars were parked wherever, people stepping out and gazing at the clear blue sky. April passed a bulletin board and observed it curiously. It was a screen, with different notices popping up on it as she looked:</p><p>SENATE MEETING CALLED</p><p>THE DELEGATION FROM JEHRO WILL ARRIVE ON TEUSDAY</p><p>THE DUKE OF MANHATTEN GIVES BIRTH TO BABY KATARINA</p><p>THREE NEW TRANSPORTS FROM YEGAR WILL DOCK SHORTLY</p><p>Eventually, they made their way back to the undercity. "What was it like?" April wondered. "Living here. On another planet."</p><p>"Oh, just like living on any other, I imagine," the Doctor said.</p><p>"But I mean, did they have school? I think they did—there was a notice about that in the undercity. Like, did they have robot teachers? Holograms? Did people still eat food here, or did the rich have nutritional pellets? Or did they get food through IVs? Did they still drink Gatorade or something like it? Still have an unhealthy obsession with energy drinks? What time did they get up? Did they play VR games for fun? What type of jobs were there?"</p><p>The Doctor frowned, thinking. "Robots. The rich payed for experts to tutor their children. But if you lived in the uppercity or even sometimes the lower city and passed enough tests, you could go to one of their special schools. Like over there." He pointed at a gleaming white spire. "They ate food, but some of it was in the form of nutritional bars. What's Gatorade? Yes, they had energy drinks. I imagine what time they got up would vary depending on whom you asked. The rich played holographic games. And most of the people in the upper city were government officials, in charge of companies, there on vacation, or working for members of the previous groups."</p><p>April watched in astonishment as three young cat-people, a bald human girl of no more than ten, a boy with short black hair, and a child with bright red skin and a tail ran around on the streets of the undercity. "What're they playing?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"Tag."</p><p>"Seriously?" Martha said. "They still do that, in the future?"</p><p>The Doctor nodded. It was almost worth it, April supposed, seeing all of these other people on so many different worlds, just living. Almost. She had nearly died again.</p><p>"Will they be alright, these people?" April asked. "I mean, their government's, well, dead."</p><p>"Eh, they'll be fine!" The Doctor announced. "Remarkably resourceful, humans."</p><p>"So, we just go then?" Martha asked. "Just…leave?"</p><p>"New New York will start again! They've got Novice Hame, just what every city needs! Cats in charge!" The Doctor said happily.</p><p>"It doesn't seem right," Martha said. "It's not like they can just snap their fingers and have a stable society, just like that. Shouldn't we stay? Help with the cleanup?"</p><p>"I don't do that," the Doctor said as he stepped into the TARDIS. Martha followed. <em>Wasn't she supposed to camp outside? </em>April wondered. <em>With that chair?</em></p><p>"But what did he mean, the Face of Boe?" Martha asked. "You're not alone."</p><p>"I don't know," the Doctor said.</p><p>"You've got us. Me and Harriet and April. Is that what he meant?" She asked. <em>Maybe that's it!</em> April thought. <em>It didn't in the show, but it could be that here, it could mean something else. A friendship arc or whatever.</em></p><p>"I don't think so," the Doctor said. "Sorry."</p><p>"Then what?"</p><p>"Doesn't matter," the Doctor said. April realized that Martha might never get the explanation of the Time Lords. She couldn't stay outside the TARDIS; she was already in it. Somehow, Harriet and April's existence had managed to change the dialog. <em>Did all of my questions push this part later? </em>April wondered. "Right, you've had a trip—two trips," he said. <em>He's not going to drop Martha back off at home, right?</em> April thought. He pulled a lever and tapped the screen then stood back to stare at the time rotor contemplatively.</p><p>"This is it, then?" Martha asked, disappointed.</p><p>"Back to Earth as promised," he said. <em>Maybe if he stays for the Lazarus Experiment, he'll decide he does want Martha to come along. And if he doesn't decide to go to Manhattan, I can always say I want to go there. He'd probably see right through that, though. </em>"But…I suppose we could take a detour." <em>Yes!</em></p><p>"A detour?" Martha asked skeptically.</p><p>"Er, I…" The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "We could…you know, take the long way around."</p><p>"You mean…?" Martha said.</p><p>"Well, we could take a brief stop. Mind you, it would be quick. We're not headed there, see. But we could, er, take an indirect route." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.</p><p>"Well, no complaints from me!" Martha said. "We could go somewhere April and Harriet want to go?"</p><p>The Doctor looked over at Harriet and April, standing to the side and watching him and Martha talk. <em>What if he does ask us?</em> April wondered. <em>Where would we say we want to go? Do we stay away from Manhattan? Or decide to go?</em> "How about a trip to New York? The original one." The Doctor said. April barely contained a sigh of relief. <em>That's not actually something people do, sigh in relief</em>, she reminded herself. <em>Stop acting like you're in a book.</em></p><p><em>Am I?</em> She wondered. <em>I mean, is that really any less plausible than "Doctor Who is real" or "you're actually psychic and made up a whole TV show"? I could have somehow fallen into the story, like in Story Thieves or something.</em></p><p>The Doctor pulled a lever, fiddling around with the TARDIS mechanisms. The TARDIS pitched to the side as the sound of the breaks filled the room. Suddenly, it felt like there was some sort of break in the action, like a record skipping. April shook her head, clearing off a sudden spell of dizziness.</p><p>"Are you okay?" Harriet asked, worried.</p><p>"Did you feel something weird?" April asked.</p><p>Harriet squinted at her, then shook her head.</p><p>"April?" The Doctor asked.</p><p>"It's nothing. Probably. I mean, I've been doing a lot of running. So, the dizziness has got to be exhaustion or something. Right?" It didn't feel like that. Somehow, it felt important. April looked up to see the Doctor watching them intently. <em>Great. Now he's going to think I'm weak or something,</em> April thought.</p><p>
  <em>Well, that's good, maybe he'll let you skip out on this adventure.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But think of all the good I can do. I mean, I may not remember this episode very well, but a lot of people died in it. I can help them.</em>
</p><p><em>STAY BACK. </em>The conviction suddenly filled her head.</p><p>
  <em>What?</em>
</p><p>There wasn't any reply.</p><p>"Are you sure you're alright?" Harriet asked quietly.</p><p><em>You know</em>, April thought, <em>it'd probably be a good idea to make bigger deal about that.</em></p><p><em>It's perfectly reasonable to expect that sort of symptoms of exhaustion</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, but what if it's not? These sorts of things cause so many problems. Communication difficulties, no sharing of evidence and most of all, people saying "it's nothing".</em>
</p><p><em>But it probably is,</em> indeed<em>, nothing.</em></p><p>"Probably," April said. "Just felt a bit weird."</p><p>"Something's wrong with the TARDIS," the Doctor said suddenly, watching the dials on the TARDIS console. He leaned over it, playing around with the controls.</p><p>"What?" April asked. This wasn't in the script. Literally.</p><p>"Oh, it's nothing. Might need some time to cool down, but she'll be fine," he assured them, patting the console. "Here we go."</p><p><em>I don't like this</em>, April thought. <em>First you feel weird, and now the console.</em></p><p>Martha and the Doctor stepped out of the door, and April and Harriet followed. "No interfering," Harriet reminded her.</p><p>"I don't need you reminding me," April muttered. She wouldn't make the same mistake for a third time.</p><p>"Don't think I fell for—"</p><p>"Shh," April hissed.</p><p>"Where are we?" Martha asked.</p><p>"Ah, smell that Atlantic breeze. Nice and cold. Lovely. Martha, have you met my friend?" Martha turned around, and then, slowly looked up. April smiled. She'd seen it, of course, but somehow it felt different. Back then, she had been "going away", spending a day in New York City. Now, she was "coming home", or as close to it as she was going to get. She was in New York. Yes, it might be New York ninety or so years ago, but it was much closer than when they had met Shakespeare.</p><p>"Is that…? Oh, my god. That's the Statue of Liberty!" Martha said, gaping.</p><p>"Gateway to the New World. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."</p><p>"That's so brilliant," Martha said. "I've always wanted to go to New York. I mean the real New York, not the new, new, new, new one. Have you been?" She asked, turning to the two younger girls.</p><p>"Well, there's the genuine article," the Doctor said, before either April or Harriet could say anything. <em>Why? </em>April wondered. It would have to be deliberate, but she couldn't see any of the reasoning behind it. "So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. No wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam."</p><p>"I wonder what year it is, because look, the Empire State Building's not even finished yet."</p><p>"Work in progress," said the Doctor. "Still got a couple floors to go, and if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around…"</p><p>Meanwhile, Martha had picked up a copy of the New York Record conveniently lying on a bench. "November first 1930."</p><p>"You're getting good at this."</p><p>"Eighty years ago," Martha said, staring at the harbor. "It's funny, because you see all those old newsreels all in black and white like it's so far away, but here we are. It's real. It's now. Come on then, you. Where do you want to go first?"</p><p>"I think our detour just got longer," Harriet muttered.</p><p>"I think our detour just got longer," the Doctor said, then looked over his shoulder at Harriet and April, leaning against the TARDIS.</p><p>"Hooverville Mystery Deepens," Martha announced. "What's Hooverville?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Into the Hooverville</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Evolution of the Daleks has begun. The protagonists try not to change anything...but that doesn't always work out.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"They named it after the president," April said, "because they blamed him for the Great Depression. They had Hoovervilles, Hooverblankets…" She struggled to think of a third thing. There was always a third thing. "Anyway, things were all great in the 1920's, I think it was, and then a bunch of bad things happened. Dust bowl, people got too risky with the stock market—"</p><p>"The Wall Street Crash, yeah?" Martha asked. "When was that, 1929?" <em>What?</em> April thought. <em>How does she even know that? It's not like she grew up in America. I don't learn ultra-specific things about the UK in school. Although I guess it's important enough?</em></p><p>"Do you remember this episode?" April whispered to Harriet. "Because I don't." As much as she tried to think about its plot, the events of Daleks in Manhattan seemed to elude her memory. She'd seen it multiple times, and yet she could barely remember what happened.</p><p>"Sort-of," Harriet said quietly. "I mean, I don't know the whole plot, but I know the idea."</p><p>"Neither of us remembers this one very well then," April said.</p><p>"It's better, I guess?" Harriet said. "We won't be tempted to change anything."</p><p>"No, it's not." April said, a little too loudly.</p><p>"What?" Martha asked.</p><p>"Nothing," April said quickly. <em>Too quickly. You really need to improve your lying skills. You're good, but not enough. </em>"We were talking about home."</p><p>"Well, you could get the Doctor to drop you off, couldn't you?" The Doctor was already walking ahead, so April, Harriet, and Martha raced to catch up to him. "At home, I mean?" Neither of them answered. "Right?"</p><p>"Yeah," April said. <em>I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry.</em> "Yeah, we can, but travelling with the Doctor. Who'd miss that?" <em>I would, if I could. And you will, if I don't change the future. You'll choose to leave.</em> They walked in silence until they reached Central Park.</p><p>The Hooverville was full of people dressed in drab, tattered clothing. Navy blue, black, brown…and all threadbare and spotted with holes. The smell of smoke drifted through the air as the inhabitants kept warm by the same fires that cooked their food. There was noise everywhere, a thousand discontented voices and rumbling stomachs. April thought she could hear children crying.</p><p>Clotheslines were draped across trees, holding garments much lighter than the ones that the people there wore. All throughout the shantytown were American flags, and April wondered how they hadn't already lost faith in their country. <em>Solomon</em>, she decided. <em>He probably put them there, as a show of unity or something. That was the leader's name, wasn't it? Solomon?</em> She was pretty sure it was, since it sounded right.</p><p>"This is where they live?" Martha asked. "In a park, in the middle of the city?"</p><p>"Ordinary people lost their jobs. Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything. There are places like this all over America. No one's helping them. You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go."</p><p>"You thieving lowlife!" April heard a man shout. She turned around, following the Doctor towards the source of the noise. Immediately, other people grabbed him as the man that he had yelled at rushed towards him. In a matter of seconds, all of them were fighting.</p><p>"I didn't touch it!"</p><p>"Somebody stole it!"</p><p>"It wasn't me!"</p><p>"Oh, I know him!"</p><p>"Think you can steal from me!"</p><p>"Saw you lookin' shifty 'round my place this mornin'!"</p><p>"I didn't do nothin'!"</p><p>"Oh, there's a tale!"</p><p>"I said—"</p><p>"Can you believe—"</p><p>"—the hell?"</p><p>"Stop—"</p><p>"—warned you!"</p><p>"Cut that out!" Yelled a man, stepping out of his tent and donning a hat. He had dark brown skin and wore a light brown coat. As he walked, he pushed the men apart. "Cut that out right now!"</p><p>"He stole my bread!"</p><p>"That's enough," said the leader, said Solomon. "Did you take it?"</p><p>"I don't know what happened. He just went crazy!" The other man rushed at him.</p><p>"That's enough!" Solomon ordered again. "Now think real careful before you lie to me."</p><p>"I'm starving, Solomon." Solomon held out his hand, and the thief gave him the bread from inside his coat.</p><p>"We all starving. We all got families somewhere." Solomon split the loaf in two, handing one piece to the thief and one piece to the other man. "No stealing and no fighting. You know the rules. Thirteen years ago I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the only reason we got through was because we stuck together. No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got." Both of the men walked away, holding the precious bread.</p><p>"I suppose that makes you the boss around here," said the Doctor, rushing up to him. April, Martha, and Harriet followed. <em>What happens to Solomon?</em> She wondered.</p><p><em>He dies</em>, April was filled with utter certainty. Solomon died. But she couldn't remember exactly when or how. The more she tried to think about it, the less clear it got.</p><p>"And, er, who might you be?" Solomon asked.</p><p>"He's the Doctor. I'm Martha. And this is Harriet and April."</p><p>"A doctor. Huh. Well, we got stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighborhood gets classier by the day."</p><p>"How many people live here?" Martha asked.</p><p>"At any one time, hundreds," Solomon told her. "No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville. We are a truly equal society. Black, white, all the same. All <em>starving</em>. So, you're welcome, all of you. But tell me. Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me. That there's going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, when we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"</p><p><em>Isn't that to create jobs? </em>April wondered. <em>The New Deal? Theodore Roosevelt—no, it's too early for him. I guess it's the Daleks, then.</em></p><p>"So, men are going missing. Is this true?" Asked the Doctor.</p><p>"It's true all right," Solomon said, leading them to his tent. It was small and plain. There were three seats, and a small wooden table that held a small lamp. Books covered the top of the box. April bent over them to read their titles. Most of them were nonfiction—information about law and history—but there were a few classics that April had heard of and a few that she hadn't. He had another hat hung up, along with some picture in a frame.</p><p>"But what does missing mean?" The Doctor asked. "Men must come and go here all the time. It's not like anyone's keeping a register."</p><p>"This is different," Solomon said.</p><p>"In what way?" Martha asked.</p><p>"Someone takes them, at night. We hear something, someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone like they vanished into thin air."</p><p>"And you're sure someone's taking them?"</p><p>"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold onto the little you got. Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning."</p><p>"Have you been to the police?" Martha asked.</p><p>"Yeah, we tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal."</p><p>"So, the question is, who's taking them, and what for?"</p><p>"Solomon!" April could hear someone call from outside the tent. Moments later, a boy with light brown hair and a grey cap popped his head in. "Solomon, Mr. Diagoras is here."</p><p>"Yeah, we're comin'," said Solomon. "You want work, Doctor, he's your man. Finds all sorts of jobs." They left the tent to find a large group of people gathering around three well-dressed men.</p><p>"I need men," said the leader, Mr. Diagoras. Volunteers. I've got a little work for you and you sure look like you can use the money."</p><p>"Yeah," said the boy. "What's the money?"</p><p>"A dollar a day."</p><p>"What's the work?" Solomon asked.</p><p>"A little trip down the sewers. Got a tunnel collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?"</p><p>"A dollar a day? That's slave wage. And men don't always come back up, do they?" The crowd began to mutter discontentedly.</p><p>"Accidents happen," Mr. Diagoras said.</p><p>"What do you mean? What sort of accidents?" Asked the Doctor.</p><p>"You don't need the work? That's fine. Anybody else?" The Doctor raised his hand. "Enough with the questions!"</p><p>"Oh, no, no, no. I'm volunteering. I'll go."</p><p>Martha raised her hand. "I'll kill you for this," she warned him. He smiled and laughed slightly. April and Harriet raised theirs as well. <em>It'll be fine. I just need to remember what happens during this episode. They go down in the sewers and…then they end up in Three Ls and an H's place. What's her name? LLH. LLAH. Tullipah? No. It doesn't matter. She tells them her boyfriend's missing. There's that scene where Martha chases him across the stage, right? And then she gets kidnapped. Daleks in the sewers.</em></p><p>
  <em>The Doctor gets there somehow, they escape somehow. Then there's some sort of fight at the Hooverville, I think, and then—</em>
</p><p><em>And then what?</em> April wondered. She could remember snatches of the episode—the Dalek-humans aiming their guns at the Doctor, the Doctor clinging to the Empire State Building as the lightning struck, Dalek Caan emergency temporal shifting away. But whenever she tried to picture them in her memory, she couldn't. And try as she might, she couldn't remember what happened after Hooverville.</p><p><em>What happens to Solomon?</em> April wondered. She could almost see him, standing in the darkness, talking. He was saying something, but she couldn't remember what.</p><p>"Come on," Harriet said. "We're going."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. The Sewers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The protagonists explore the sewers under New York City, but something will inevitably go wrong.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What? Oh, right." April followed Harriet, the Doctor, Solomon, Martha, that boy, and the three evil people away from the Hooverville.</p><p>"What happens next?" Harriet whispered as they walked.</p><p>"We shouldn't talk about this," April whispered back as they walked.</p><p>"Just don't interfere," Harriet said. <em>Interfere with what?</em> April wondered. She still couldn't remember much after the fight at Hooverville, and even her memories before that were vague and disjointed. If she couldn't remember what happened, she wouldn't be able to consciously interfere. So, it was a good thing she didn't remember, right?</p><p>Except she had the general feeling that this episode did not go well. That good people suffered and died. Besides, if Harriet thought she'd interfere, there might be a reason to. Should she ask Harriet what she knew? It might help—but then, there was the temptation. April might not be able to stop herself from affecting the story. And if she did, she had the feeling it would go badly.</p><p>"We're here," said Mr. Diagoras at the entrance to the sewers. April climbed down the manhole ladder, trying not to think about how disgusting it was. "Turn left. Go about half a mile. Follow tunnel two seven three. Fall's right ahead of you, you can't miss it."</p><p>"And when do we get our dollar?" Frank asked.</p><p>"When you come back up."</p><p>"And if we don't come back up?" Harriet said.</p><p>"Then I got no one to pay."</p><p>"Don't worry," Solomon said. "We'll be back."</p><p>"Let's hope so," Martha said. The Doctor looked into Mr. Diagoras's eyes for a moment before turning around and following Solomon and Frank into the sewers.</p><p>"We just got to stick together," Frank said. "It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here."</p><p>"So," Martha asked, "what about you, Frank?" As she and Frank talked, the Doctor fell back to speak with Harriet and April.</p><p>"Something's wrong," he said. "Have either of you done anything?"</p><p>"No," April said, shaking her head. All she had done was think, and last time she had checked, Daleks couldn't read minds unless they 'extracted your brainwaves' with their manipulator arm. "Nothing."</p><p>"Well, be careful," he warned. "Something's off with the timelines here."</p><p>"Is it another paradox?" Harriet asked.</p><p>"Yes, no, well, sort of. You still have a massive paradox around you, but it's danger has somewhat diminished after we left New New York." <em>Probably something to do with the Time Agents or the Face of Boe, then. </em>April listened to the splashing of the sewer water as they walked. "There's something else. Something's wrong. Have you had that feeling you humans get when you eat too much sugar lately?"</p><p>April shook her head. "Nothing," Harriet told him.</p><p>"Well, I felt kind of dizzy, earlier," April said, just in case. "But I'm really tired. Probably nothing."</p><p>"Do you know what's going to happen?" The Doctor asked. "Do your abilities tell you anything about this?" April nodded, slowly. "Then don't say anything. We are all in very grave danger. Do you understand?"</p><p>"Yes," Harriet said. "And April does too. <em>Right?</em>"</p><p>"Yes," April said. "I won't say anything about what I know." <em>Which isn't much. Maybe I should explain—might convince him I don't have super time sensitive powers. I just watched an episode a while ago and forgot. </em>"I'm curious, though—what would be the problem with talking if no one could hear us?"</p><p>The Doctor sighed. "You're only safe from eavesdropping on the TARDIS, and even then, you could lock a timeline by speaking about it. The brain is malleable. One can sense a timeline, and it could still change. But by stating it, it's set in stone. Even if no one heard, it's not safe to say <em>anything</em> out loud. So, you can't discuss what you see—even if your visions are similar, they could be subtly different."</p><p>April nodded. "Okay," she said. They could still discuss it on the TARDIS later, and he wouldn't know, but for now, she should stay quiet.</p><p>"Is that what's wrong?" Harriet asked. "We were talking about stuff earlier. Is it our fault?" <em>Of course not</em>, April thought. <em>Because we can't "sense timelines". We just come from a parallel universe.</em></p><p>The Doctor ran his hand through his hair. "No," he shook his head. "I don't think, at least. No, it's not, but it's still dangerous."</p><p>"Wait," April said suddenly. "Earlier, in the TARDIS, I felt kind of…dizzy." She didn't want to say it—what if the Doctor took it as some sign that she could feel whatever was wrong with the timelines? Or worse, what if it <em>was</em> a sign that she could feel whatever was wrong with the timelines? But she didn't want to be withholding information, especially information that could be incredibly important. "I thought it was nothing. I mean, I'm really tired. But…"</p><p>"Oh, I remember that," Harriet added.</p><p>"I see," the Doctor said thoughtfully. "If you feel anything else weird, tell me." He ran a hand through his hair. "Dizziness isn't quite how I'd describe what I'm sensing, but it's possible that whatever happened to you makes you perceive things differently." He rushed forwards to speak to Solomon before April could respond. "So, this Diagoras bloke, who is he then?"</p><p>"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now, it seems like he's running most of Manhattan."</p><p>"How'd he manage that, then?" Asked the Doctor.</p><p>"These are strange times," Solomon said. "A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way around."</p><p>"Whoa!" The Doctor said, pointing his flashlight at something on the ground.</p><p>"What is it?" Harriet asked, pushing her way to the front. April followed her. Sitting in the shallow, murky water was a strange blob that was glowing a bright green.</p><p>"Is it radioactive or something? It's gone off, whatever it is," Martha said. The Doctor bent down and scooped it up in his hands, suddenly wearing his glasses. "And you've got to pick it up." April rolled her eyes.</p><p>"Shine your torch through it," said the Doctor, poking and prodding it. "Composite organic matter. Martha? Medical opinion?"</p><p>"It's not human. I know that," she said.</p><p>"No, it's not," said the Doctor. "And I'll tell you something else. We must be at least half a mile in. I don't see any sign of collapse, do you? So, why did Mr. Diagoras send us down here?"</p><p>"Where are we now?" Martha asked. "What's above us?"</p><p>"Well, we're right underneath Manhattan."</p><p>"We can go a bit further in, can't we?" Frank said. "Might've just been off by a bit."</p><p>The Doctor frowned, then shrugged. "On we go." They walked faster now, for slowing down would mean staying in one place too long, and then the shadows would devour them. Slowing down would mean admitting they were scared, and all of the group were absolutely terrified. <em>Why? </em>April wondered. <em>I know it's going to be fine.</em></p><p>"We're way beyond half a mile," Solomon said as they reached another manhole. "There's no collapse, nothing."</p><p>"That Diagoras bloke," said Martha. "Was he lying?"</p><p>"Looks like it," the Doctor said.</p><p>"So, why'd he want people to come down here?" Frank asked.</p><p>"Solomon," the Doctor announced, "I think it's time you took these four back. I'll be much quicker on my own." Suddenly, a strange, shrieking sound echoed around them. <em>Pig squeals.</em></p><p>"What the hell was that?" Solomon asked.</p><p>"Hello?" Frank said loudly.</p><p>"Sush," Martha hissed.</p><p>"What if it's one of the folk gone missing?" Frank asked.</p><p>"Really," April said nervously, "be quieter."</p><p>He glared at her, but lowered his volume. "You'd be scared and half mad down here on your own."</p><p>"Do you think they're still alive?" Asked the Doctor.</p><p>"Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost." There was another squeal.</p><p>"I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that," Solomon said.</p><p>"Where's it coming from?" April asked.</p><p>"Sounds like there's more than one of them," Frank added.</p><p>"This way," the Doctor said, shining his flashlight around. It hit April in the eye, and she winced.</p><p>"No, that way," Solomon argued.</p><p>"Doctor?" Martha said, pointing her flashlight at a figure in a corner. It was hunched over, the shadows obscuring its face.</p><p>"Who are you?" Solomon asked.</p><p>"Are you lost? Can you understand me? I've been thinking about folk lost down—"</p><p>"It's all right, Frank," the Doctor said quietly. "Just stay back. Let me have a look." He advanced towards the corner, slowly, keeping his flashlight trained on the form. "He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own. We know the way out. Daylight. If you come with us—oh, but what are you?" The flashlight illuminated the figure's face to reveal that of a pig.</p><p>"Is that, er, some kind of carnival mask?" Solomon asked.</p><p>"It's real," Harriet said.</p><p>"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "Now listen to me. I promise I can help. Who did this to you?"</p><p>"Doctor," Martha said, as shadows appeared on the walls of the tunnel. "I think you'd better get back here." The pigmen turned the corner, slowly advancing on the Doctor. "Doctor!"</p><p>"Actually, good point," the Doctor said, backing away.</p><p>"They're following you," April said nervously.</p><p>"Yeah, I noticed that, thanks. Well then, team. Basically, run!" He shouted the final word as they dashed away, feet splashing in the water as they hurried through the sewers. The pigmen chased after them, hot on their heels.</p><p>Finally, they reached a junction. April had fallen behind, out of breath. "It's a ladder!" The Doctor said, spotting one down a side passage. "Come on!" He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the manhole above, opening it. He began to climb, Martha right behind him. April looked behind her nervously. She could hear the pigmen behind them, splashing and the sound of hooves on stone.</p><p>Frank grabbed a T-bar that was conveniently lying on a wall. Solomon began to climb up, pausing to call his name. Harriet followed, pulling herself up the ladder, as the pigmen swarmed around Frank, grabbing him.</p><p><em>STOP! </em>A strange urge came over her; for some reason, she wanted to freeze, to pause before getting onto the ladder.</p><p>Suddenly, she remembered the stars serenely twinkling down on the chaos below. Hooverville was on fire, tents burning as smoke obscured the night sky. Solomon was talking, talking to the Daleks. Saying something. Peace. He only wanted peace, he wanted them to talk. But Daleks don't talk. They exterminate, and he was going to die—</p><p>April shook it away, and began to climb, her hands clutching the cold metal as she went as fast as she could. <em>Solomon dies</em>, April thought. <em>Of course he does.</em></p><p><em>Focus,</em> April told herself as she grabbed the next rung.</p><p>One of the pigmen grabbed her ankle and she screamed. Solomon grasped her wrist, pulling as hard as he could, and April felt as if her arm was being pulled out of its socket. Harriet and the Doctor grabbed on, but more pigmen were dragging her down, now. April kicked at her attackers, feeling her foot plant into something solid. It wasn't enough. With a final tug, the pigmen pulled her away, down onto the hard, stone ground.</p><p>"April!" Martha yelled above her. April tried to elbow one of the pigmen, but there were far too many of them for her to fight. <em>It's okay, it's okay, I'll be fine, I don't think Frank dies—</em></p><p>One of them grabbed her arm, wrenching it behind her back. She tried to kick at another, but the swarm pressed in on her, holding her in place. The pigmen started to climb up the ladder, and Solomon pushed the Doctor away, closing the manhole behind him.</p><p>And then the only light was the thin rectangles shining from the covering. April was trapped.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Daleks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>April and Frank are trapped in the sewers, and April faces a difficult choice.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The funny thing is, I completely forgot about updating this at the exact same chapter my fanfiction.net version took a long hiatus. So...here's a summary of what happened so far, if you've forgotten.</p><p>April Storm and Harriet Taylor are walking with their friends outside of their high school when Jeremy Rice, the local school bully, hits them with a car. They wake up at the Royal Hope Hospital, where they become involved in the plot of Smith and Jones. Unable to hide their knowledge, they quickly become suspicious to the Doctor. April is scanned by the Judoon, but their scanners say that she's non-human. Due to the butterfly effect, she realizes that the Doctor won't get to the Plasmavore in time and goes in his stead, but the Doctor arrives before it's too late and the Plasmavore is stopped. The Doctor brings Harriet and April to Logopolis, where they are told that both girls' matter is from this universe and that they were likely considered "non-human" by Judoon scanners because of their microorganisms. April doesn't believe this, but agrees not to share her knowledge. Picking up Martha, they visit Shakespeare, but April gets the urge to help the Master of the Revels, whom the Carrionites are supposed to kill. She's unsuccessful, but the Carrionites notice her. They capture her, and when she escapes, she leaves behind a hair which they use to control her. Eventually, she manages to break free with the Doctor's help. April, Harriet, Shakespeare, and Martha are sucked into the Carrionites' rift, which they manage to escape using poetry, and Shakespeare closes the rift. They go to New New Earth, where April and Harriet stay behind in Brannigan's car. They are found by Time Agents, including Captain Jack Harkness, but Jeremy Rice teleports in and stops them, giving April and Harriet two letters, one of which they're only supposed to open after "the sixth". The Face of Boe delivers his last words, and the Doctor agrees to make a quick stop at the original New York. April experiences a weird feeling, but brushes it off, and the group travels to Hooverville. In the sewers, April tries to escape but is pulled down and trapped with Frank and the pigmen.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>One of them grabbed her arm, wrenching it behind her back. She tried to kick at another, but the swarm pressed in on her, holding her in place. The pigmen started to climb up the ladder, and Solomon pushed the Doctor away, closing the manhole behind him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And then the only light was the thin rectangles shining from the covering. April was trapped.</em>
</p><hr/><p>The pigmen grabbed April and Frank, pushing them away from the manhole and grunting. "What are we going to do?" Frank whispered as they walked down the tunnel.</p><p>"Nothing," April whispered back.</p><p>"What?" Frank asked.</p><p>"I told you," she said. "Just trust me."</p><p>"They're going to kill us," he muttered. "And you want me to let these monsters do it?"</p><p>"If you fight against them," April warned him, "they will kill you."</p><p>"They're going to kill us now!" Frank yelled. One of the pigmen pulled back in alarm, but before Frank and April could take the opening the others grabbed them, leading them further into the dark tunnels.</p><p>"Use your head," April said. "If they wanted us dead, we'd be dead already. Don't worry. We'll be fine." <em>Why am I so scared? </em>April wondered. <em>If everything is going to be fine, why am I terrifies out of my mind?</em> She didn't have an answer for that.</p><p>The pigmen pushed them forwards, and April forced herself not to try and fight them. It didn't really hurt, them grabbing her arms, but she rarely let even her friends hug her. <em>They'll take us to the Daleks, and then the Doctor will come in and save everyone. Honestly, it's probably better that I'm out of the way right now, so I won't be tempted to change anything at all.</em> Thinking, at least, took her mind off of being shoved down a corridor in a dark, smelly sewer.</p><p>"What do you mean?" Frank asked. "What do you know about this?"</p><p>"Nothing. I—"</p><p>"You do," he insisted. "You and that—"</p><p>"Don't!" April said quickly.</p><p>"Solomon will come, won't he?" Frank asked. "Him and the others, they'll find where they're taking us."</p><p>"That's right," April told him. "Just hold onto that."</p><p>"But these…these creatures? What are they?"</p><p>"They're…" April began, and then thought better. She really didn't need him panicking.</p><p>"They're what?" Frank asked. "The people who went missing? Is this what happens to them?"</p><p>"I…I don't know," April lied.</p><p>"It is," he said sadly. "And you know it. Poor fellows."</p><p>"Yeah," April agreed. They walked in near-silence, trying not to listen to the grunting of the pigmen around them.</p><p>"How'd you end up here?" Frank asked. "Your accent's right, but wrong too. You're not from around here. It's strange."</p><p>"Oh, I've been travelling," she said.</p><p>"How'd get stuck in Hooverville then?"</p><p>"We didn't. Came here because of the newspaper. Hooverville Mystery Deepens."</p><p>"So, you're like, private investigators?"</p><p>"Of a sort," April said. "We see something wrong; we want to fix it."</p><p>"You've certainly come to the right place, then," Frank said. "But you're not going to fix all the world's problems."</p><p>"That's not what we do," April said. "No one can do that."</p><p>"Then what <em>do</em> you do?" Frank asked.</p><p>"Whatever we can," April told him. "We do whatever we can."</p><p>The pigmen pushed them towards a small group of people, making April stumble and catch herself on the wall. There was a young woman in a dirty brown dress, holding the hand of a slightly older man with a grey jacket and cap. Another man was leaning against the wall, shaking. The young woman walked over to them, her eyes searching.</p><p>"Arla," she said. "I'm Arla Caldows. Not that it matters much now." Her voice trailed off.</p><p>"Do I know you?" April asked. She did, didn't she? Arla was short, with short black hair and large eyes. Her face was familiar, even if her hair wasn't.</p><p>"No," Arla said. <em>Oh</em>, April thought. <em>Of course. Of course, of course, of course. Arla Caldows. Clara Oswald.</em> "Should I?"</p><p>April shook her head. "You just reminded me of someone. I was wrong."</p><p>"Frank," Frank said, shaking her hand.</p><p>"This is Mark," Arla said, gesturing to the man whose hand she had been holding. "They took us from the Hooverville. How did they get you?"</p><p>"That Diagoras guy tricked us," Frank said.</p><p>"And who are you?" Arla asked.</p><p>"April."</p><p>"Oh, April!" Arla said joyfully, leaning in to hug her. April backed up nervously. How had one of the echo-Claras met her? Did this mean she'd end up a few years before this? Arla wrapped her arms around her, ignoring April's attempt to squirm away. "It's you!" Then, Arla whispered in her ear. "We're gonna attack the pigmen. Signal's 'clever boy'. When more get here." She pulled away.</p><p>"Do you know her?" Frank asked.</p><p>"Um…yes."</p><p>"So, she's also a traveler? Fixer-upper of the world?" Frank asked. The pigmen grunted and pushed the group back towards the wall so that they were closer together.</p><p>"Those <em>creatures</em>," said one of the men, shaking. "Jesus, they're <em>awful</em>." Arla stumbled deliberately as one of the pigmen pushed her, falling into Frank and whispering something to him. He nodded solemnly. Two more pigmen came in, pushing a tall Black man with an official-looking hat and a dark scarf. Arla pretended to know him, cueing him in on the plan.</p><p>"Yah know," said Mark quietly. "They look almost human if you look close enough at the eyes."</p><p>"I think they're going to turn us into them," Arla said brightly. "But don't panic!" <em>There's a Clara echo here, so what do I do? Let her figure it out? Or will I get involved in this no matter what?</em></p><p>"How?" Frank asked, his voice faint. "How do I not panic?"</p><p>"Easy. Make a recipe in your head. I always do souffle's."</p><p>"Of course, you do," April muttered. <em>Do I attack with them? </em>She wondered. <em>If I do, I could change the way this goes. I could die if I try. It's not worth that. I'll survive if I don't.</em></p><p>
  <em>But I can't just leave them to attack—they could die!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You're just worried you'll look like a coward.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>No. Well, maybe. Well…</em>
</p><p><em>That's nothing compared to your life. </em>April took a deep breath. "You know," she said quietly, "I have some friends. They'll be coming for us. So, we've just got to stay alive until they come. Should be easy enough, seeing as how they don't want to kill us yet."</p><p>Clara—no, Arla—narrowed her eyes. "Fortune favors the bold," she said.</p><p>The pigmen came again, pushing another group of humans. A young boy who couldn't have been more than ten was carried by one of them, kicking his legs, with a middle-aged man and an old man following close behind. Again, April was certain that she recognized one of them. <em>The Great Intelligence</em>, she thought. There was a Clara echo, so there must be the Great Intelligence echo as well.</p><p>The plan passed among them in whispers, hopefully out of range of the pigmen's hearing. The boy leaned against the stone wall of the tunnel, trying not to cry. "Hey," Arla said, moving over to him. "Hey, it's going to be okay. We're going to get out of this."</p><p>"I'm not scared," the boy said.</p><p>"It's alright to be scared," Arla told him. "I'm scared too, you know. But you're going to be fine."</p><p>"You don't know," he pointed out. "Daddy says people who tell you that are lying to you."</p><p>"Well," Arla said. "I'm not lying. Just you see. We're going to get you home, and then you're going to tell your daddy that sometimes people do really mean it. Hey, what's your name?"</p><p>"Roy," he told her. April looked anxiously at the tunnels. How long had it been? Was Martha coming soon? Had she messed everything up? She looked over at the Great Intelligence, his cold grey eyes searching the people waiting in the sewers.</p><p>"You know," Arla was saying loudly. "I met this kid once. I used to live in Pennsylvania, before I came here. And I met this kid there. He was such a—" She stopped just before giving the signal as pigmen began pushing the humans up again and forcing them forwards. Arla glared at them as they forced the group forwards.</p><p><em>Is this supposed to happen? </em>April wondered. <em>When will Martha show up?</em> "Arla," April said. She wasn't sure why she said it, it just slipped out. "No."</p><p>"What?" Arla asked.</p><p>"I just…" April said, frustrated. How could she explain that she knew the Doctor was coming?</p><p>"No!" April heard someone yell. She turned around to see a pigman pushing Martha into the line.</p><p>"Martha!" Frank said.</p><p>"You're alive!" Martha shouted, hugging him. She tried to hug April, who backed away nervously.</p><p>"Just…no hugging, please." April said tentatively.</p><p>"I thought we'd lost you!" Martha said. A pigman pushed Frank forwards.</p><p>"All right, all right, we're moving."</p><p>"Where are they taking us?" Frank asked.</p><p>"I don't know," Martha said, "but we can find out what's going on down here."</p><p>"They're going to turn us into those <em>things</em>!" Mark said. The pigmen started squealing and moving around nervously.</p><p>"What're they doing? What's wrong? What's wrong?" Frank asked, peering over everyone's shoulders.</p><p>"I can't see!" Roy announced, hopping up and down. The Great Intelligence wrinkled his nose.</p><p>"<strong>Silence</strong>," came a mechanical voice from the space in front of them. And in glided a Dalek, a perfect war machine. The Dalek looked exactly like it did in the show, bronze casing with the Dalek eggs in neat rows down its base. But a camera just couldn't capture how frightening it truly was. The light from its eyestalk seemed malevolent in and of itself. If eyes were the windows into the soul, then April was looking at pure hatred, and it was <em>scary</em>. "<strong>Silence</strong>! <strong>Hu-mans will form a line. Move. Move.</strong>"</p><p>The pigmen began to push the humans into a line. April stumbled backwards until she reached the cold stone of the sewer wall.</p><p>"Just do what it says, everyone, okay?" Martha said. "Just obey."</p><p>"<strong>The female is wise</strong>," the Dalek screamed in its terrifying voice. "<strong>Obey. Obey!</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Report</strong>," said second Dalek, gliding in.</p><p>"<strong>These are strong specimens! They will help the Da-lek cause.</strong>"</p><p>"Dalek?" Martha muttered.</p><p>"<strong>What is the status of the Final Experiment?</strong>"</p><p>"Daleks," whispered the Great Intelligence.</p><p>"<strong>The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete.</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Then I will extract prisoners for selection.</strong>" The Daleks dragged forwards one of the original two men. "<strong>Intelligence scan, initiate.</strong>" The Dalek extended its manipulator arm, reaching towards the man's face. He backed away, terrified. "<strong>Reading brain waves. Low intelligence.</strong>"</p><p>"You calling me <em>stupid</em>?" Asked the man, affronted.</p><p>"<strong>Silence! This one will become a pig slave. Next.</strong>" The pigmen began to drag him off.</p><p>"No, let go of me!" He shouted. "I'm not becoming one of them. No! No!" April turned away. She wanted to help him, but these were <em>Daleks</em>. There wasn't anything she could do.</p><p>
  <em>Coward.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I can't do anything to help—there's no point.</em>
</p><p>"<strong>Intelligence scan, initiate,</strong>" said the Dalek. The other Dalek also began to scan the prisoners. When they reached Roy, he screamed, his voice echoing through the sewers. April was filled with the urge to do something, to save him, to stop—</p><p>"Clever boy!" Arla shouted. But it was only her who rushed forwards to fight the Daleks. April grabbed her wrist. Arla turned to her, shaking her head. "Don't you dare."</p><p>"<strong>High intelligence</strong>," the Dalek judged.</p><p>"Arla," April whispered. "You have a job, and it's very important. You can't die now."</p><p>"Oh," Arla said, raising an eyebrow. "And I can die later?"</p><p>"Trust me," April said. "You're going to save the world, if you just survive to do it!" If Arla died now, then she wouldn't be able to stop the Great Intelligence. The pigmen grabbed her, pushing her against the wall as the Daleks scanned her and sorted her into 'high intelligence'.</p><p>Then it was April's turn. She knew she was going to be live, nothing bad was going to happen to her, but as the Dalek's plunger extended towards her face, she wanted to scream. <em>I'm fine</em>, she reminded herself. <em>It doesn't hurt, I'm not Mel, I'm fine I'm fine I'm finefinefinefineFINE!</em></p><p>April sighed in relief as it pulled its sucker arm away. "<strong>High Intelligence.</strong>" In a few minutes, the Daleks began to lead the prisoners through the tunnels. The Doctor slipped into line quietly behind them.</p><p>"Just keep walking," the Doctor said.</p><p>"Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" Martha told him.</p><p>"Yeah, well, you can kiss me later. You too, Frank, if you want." April almost giggled at Frank's startled expression.</p><p>"He's just kidding," April assured him. "Well…no, probably not," she amended.</p><hr/><p>The room was large, with some sort of thin blue piping hung throughout. Small tables were covered in glassware that held strange, vibrant chemicals. <em>What</em> are <em>those compounds? </em>April wondered. <em>I thought most of them were supposed to be boring colors. Although that one over there could be blood. </em>At the front of the room were the Daleks, their metal casings shining in the light. One of them was shaking, its armor glistening black. <em>That's the Human-Dalek one</em>, April them were two large metal boxes with glowing blue circles set into them, screens with spiraling images of galaxies and stars.</p><p>"<strong>Report</strong>," one of the Daleks said.</p><p>"<strong>Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution.</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Scan him. Prepare for birth.</strong>"</p><p>"Evolution?" The Doctor whispered.</p><p>"What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?" Martha asked.</p><p>"Ask them."</p><p>"What, me? Don't be daft," Martha said.</p><p>"You can afford to be noticed," April explained.</p><p>Martha nodded. "Daleks, I demand to be told what the Final Experiment is! Report!"</p><p>"<strong>You will bear witness</strong>."</p><p>"To what?" Martha asked.</p><p>"<strong>This is the dawn of a new age</strong>."</p><p>"What does that mean?" Arla asked.</p><p>"<strong>We are the only four Daleks in existence, so the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The children of Skaro must walk again.</strong>" The shell abruptly stopped smoking, the light behind the eye blinking out. Slowly, the case opened, and a creature rose from it.</p><p>It had slimy grey skin, with six tentacles protruding from the middle of its head. Pink brains rose from above the tentacles, kept in place by grey tendrils reaching across the top of it. A single grey eye was set into the front of its face, widening as it surveyed the room. It still wore Mr. Diagoras's suit, immaculate as ever. When it spoke, it whispered, but the sound carried through the room.</p><p>"I. Am. A. Human-Dalek. I. Am. Your. <em>Future</em>."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. The Dalek Invasion of Hooverville</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Escaping from the Daleks clutches may be fairly simple, but the protagonists will have to face an attack on Hooverville - with devastating consequences.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I promise, it isn't as bad as it looks.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>It had slimy grey skin, with six tentacles protruding from the middle of its head. Pink brains rose from above the tentacles, kept in place by grey tendrils reaching across the top of it. A single grey eye was set into the front of its face, widening as it surveyed the room. It still wore Mr. Diagoras's suit, immaculate as ever. When it spoke, it whispered, but the sound carried through the room.</em>
</p><p><em>"I. Am. A. Human-Dalek. I. Am. Your. </em>Future<em>."</em></p><hr/><p>"These humans will become like me," the Human-Dalek said, his voice hoarse. "Prepare them for hybridization." <em>Was he trying to create the Hybrid? </em>April wondered as the Doctor snuck away. The pigmen grabbed everyone in the group—Arla, April, the Great Intelligence, a grey-haired man, Roy, and Martha Jones, and began to push them forwards.</p><p>"Leave me alone!" Martha shouted, trying to fight the pigmen away. "Don't you dare!"</p><p>Suddenly, upbeat music started playing as the Doctor emerged from behind a piece of lab equipment. "What is that sound?" Sec asked.</p><p>"Ah, well, now, that would be me." He placed the radio by what appeared to be a Bunsen burner and walked up to the Human-Dalek. "Hello. Surprise. Boo. Et cetera."</p><p>"Doctor," said the Human-Dalek. April wasn't sure what he was thinking, behind his strange inhuman eye, but what</p><p>"<strong>The enemy of the Daleks!</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>EXTERMINATE!</strong>"</p><p>"Wait!" The Human-Dalek ordered. Silence fell.</p><p>"Well, then," the Doctor said, walking around the laboratory as he spoke. "A new form of Dalek. Fascinating—and very clever."</p><p>"The Cult of Skaro escaped your slaughter."</p><p>"How did you end up in 1930?"</p><p>The Human-Dalek's mouth twisted into a grim approximation of a smile. "Emergency Temporal Shift."</p><p>"Oh, that must have roasted up your power cells, huh? Time was, four Daleks could have conquered the world, but instead you're skulking away, hidden in the dark, experimenting. All of which results…in you."</p><p>"I am a Dalek in human form," said the Human-Dalek, as if it wasn't obvious. Maybe Daleks thought that other life forms were that far below them. April glanced at the Great Intelligence, who was watching the Doctor intently, cold grey eyes following his every move. April shuddered. She wasn't sure what to do about him, but she was pretty sure Arla would be able to do what needed to be done. Right?</p><p>Arla might die, April realized. Probably would. Some of the Clara echoes survived, but many didn't. Arla might die, and April had to stand there and watch…except Harriet wouldn't be there to stop her from saving Arla.</p><p><em>Stop it</em>, April warned herself. <em>You were the one who started off insisting on non-interference. Too dangerous, you said. If you won't listen to your friends, at least listen to yourself!</em></p><p>April remembered—she had been scared, of course. She didn't want to be stupid and get herself killed. But, well, that had sort of broken down when she had realized that this meant standing aside and letting people die, and so Harriet had become the responsible one. The reasonable one. The 'don't be stupid and get yourself killed one'.</p><p><em>Exactly. Don't be stupid and get yourself killed.</em> April frowned, glancing over at Arla, who didn't seem scared in the slightest.</p><p>April wondered how much longer she had to live.</p><p>"What does it feel like?" The Doctor asked. "You can talk to me, Dalek Sec. It is Dalek Sec, isn't it? That's your name? You've got a name and a mind of your own. Tell me what you're thinking right now."</p><p>"I feel humanity," Sec, the Human-Dalek, said. He turned away.</p><p>"Good. That's good."</p><p>"I feel everything we wanted from mankind. Ambition. Hatred. Aggression. And <em>war</em>. Such a genius for war."</p><p>"That's not what humanity means!" April said suddenly, not quite sure why she had felt the need to speak.</p><p>"Humanity stands for hope, forgiveness, peace. Not war," the Doctor protested.</p><p>"I think it does," said Sec. "At heart, this species is so very Dalek."</p><p>The Doctor stared at him for a moment before moving away and picking up the radio. "All right, so what have you achieved then, with this Final Experiment, eh? Nothing! Because I can show you what you're missing with this thing. A simple little radio."</p><p>"<strong>What is the purpose of that device?</strong>"</p><p>"Well, exactly," said the Doctor. The Great Intelligence was eying some of the beakers. April looked at Arla again, who was following the Great Intelligence's gaze, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "It plays music. What's the point of that? Oh, with music, you can dance to it, sing with it, fall in love to it. Unless you're a Dalek, of course. Then it's all just noise." The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at the little radio until it emitted a shriek. The pigmen and the Human-Dalek doubled over, clutching their ears, while the Daleks spun around.</p><p>The prisoners began to run, but the Great Intelligence grabbed the Doctor's shoulder, trying to pull him back to the Daleks. His hand clamped on tight, but the Doctor didn't turn around, didn't see. He must have thought it was a pigman. "Stop!" April shouted, torn between running or trying to help.</p><p>Her eyes flickered over to Arla, who was busy trying to duck out away from one of the pigmen. The creature was weak, one hand trying to cover its sensitive ears, but it was still far stronger than a human. April felt something pulling on her arm. Wrenching herself free, she glanced back at the Doctor, back at Arla. Arla caught her eye, and nodded.</p><p>April felt her legs running, pushing herself towards the exit as fast as she could. She didn't know what was happening, between the people screaming and the pigmen grunting and the Daleks turning their eyestalks in confusion.</p><p>"Run!" Arla shouted in the distance. April risked looking back for one moment. Arla leapt towards the Great Intelligence, tackling him to the ground as the pigmen began to recover. In the chaos, the Doctor didn't even notice.</p><p>With one last look at Arla and the Daleks, April turned her head and ran, following the others through the sewers back towards Hooverville.</p><hr/><p>April watched as the Doctor and Solomon spoke near the campfire, thinking carefully. <em>There's a fight coming up. I could die if I'm not careful. </em>And Solomon…he <em>would</em> die. He would try to reason with the Dalek and he would die. <em>He shouldn't. He's a great person, he shouldn't die.</em></p><p>
  <em>Maybe I can stop him!</em>
</p><p><em>NO! </em>April wasn't sure where that came from, but she shook her head, trying to remove the thought.</p><p>
  <em>I want to save him. And I can. I'm sure there's a way—if I try hard enough, I can. I couldn't save Arla…but I can save Solomon.</em>
</p><p>"…and they're coming," the Doctor finished.</p><p>"These Daleks," Solomon said. "They sound like the stuff of nightmares. And they want to breed?"</p><p>"They're splicing themselves onto human bodies, and if I'm right, they've got a farm of breeding stock right here in Hoovervillere. You've got to get everyone out."</p><p>"Hooverville's the lowest place a man can fall," Solomon said.</p><p>"There's nowhere else to go," Harriet whispered.</p><p>"There's nowhere else to go." The fire flickered, logs burning brightly in the night. Around them, men picked up rifles from their tents, arming themselves for the coming fight.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Solomon. You've got to scatter. Go anywhere. Down to the railroads, travel across state. Just get out of New York."</p><p>"There's got to be a way to reason with these things," Solomon insisted.</p><p>"No. They're like…" What could April say to describe them? She had been going to say 'space Nazis', but World War Two hadn't even started yet. Wouldn't start for another…how many years was it? "They're evil, Solomon. Absolutely evil. They consider us so beneath them that we're not even worth talking to. Lab rats for their experiments—we're just another resource to them. Not people."</p><p>"There's not a chance that they'll listen," Martha agreed.</p><p>"I've gotta try."</p><p>"You ain't seen them, boss," Frank said. He shuddered. "Monsters."</p><p>"Would you listen if a rat told you not to kill it?" April asked him. "They think we're just meaningless pests. You didn't hear them. 'Exterminate', they said. Not 'murder', not 'kill'. 'Exterminate'. They think they're doing pest control, and nothing you say will convince them any different."</p><p>"Daleks are bad enough at any time," said the Doctor. "But right now, they're vulnerable. That makes them more dangerous than ever."</p><p>"They're coming! They're coming! The pigmen are coming!" Shouted a man outside the tent. April got up, stepping outside into the night.</p><p>"A sentry," Solomon said. "He must have seen something."</p><p>"They're here!" The sentry yelled, gasping for breath. "I've seen them. Monsters! They're monsters!"</p><p>"It's started," said the Doctor.</p><p>"We're under attack," Solomon said loudly. A man came out carrying a pile of rifles, and those who didn't have one of their own lined up to take a gun. "Everyone to arms!"</p><p>April took one from the ground, but she was barely able to lift it, let alone figure out how to use it. <em>There's a safety, somewhere, but beyond that…</em> She noticed the Doctor watching her, and placed it back down, stepping away. It wouldn't be any use for her.</p><p>"I'm ready, boss, but all of you, find a weapon!" Frank shouted. April looked around anxiously. Harriet shoved a sharp metal object into her hands.</p><p>"A crowbar?" April asked incredulously.</p><p>"Better than nothing," Harriet said.</p><p>"I wish we had arrows or something," April said. "Pick them off from afar, or whatever."</p><p>Some of the people ran away, disappearing into the night. "Come back!" Solomon shouted. "We've got to stick together! It's not safe out there! Come back."</p><p>There was the sound of guns firing as the pigmen rushed in, squealing. They grabbed men and women, pulling them away back towards the Daleks' lair. April huddled near the campfire, trying not to hear the chaos unfolding around her. Startled, April realized that someone had shoved a large piece of wood into her hands. She dipped it in the fire, creating a torch for herself, brandishing it at the pigmen. The flames flickered before her eyes, eating away at the wood and turning it to ash.</p><p>"We need to get out of the park!" Martha said, her voice carrying over the sound of screams.</p><p>"We can't. They're on all sides," said the Doctor. "They're driving everyone back towards us!"</p><p>"We're trapped!"</p><p>"Then we stand together," Solomon ordered. "Gather round. Everybody come to me. You there, Jethro, Harry, Seamus, stay together." They formed a tight circle around the campfire. "Those monsters can't take all of us!"</p><p>The pigmen rushed forwards, and April clapped her hands over her ears as the sound of gunshots and screaming filled the air. The torch fell to the ground, but luckily the area was free of debris to set on fire. Some of the pigmen collapsed, but while the men reloaded, the remaining ones rushed forwards again.</p><p>"If we can just hold them off till daylight!" Martha yelled.</p><p>"Oh, Martha, they're just the foot soldiers," the Doctor told her.</p><p>"Oh, my god," Martha said, finally looking up.</p><p>"Daleks."</p><p>A Dalek dived down towards them, firing at the campsite. April covered her head, knowing it wouldn't help at all. Everything was exploding; the air was thick with the screams of those about to die, humans and pigmen alike.</p><p>"What in the world is—" Solomon started.</p><p>"It's the devil!" A man yelled.</p><p>"A Dalek," Harriet screamed. A blast from its gun hit near the group again, and April had to dive away. One of her arms hit a rock in the ground and she squeezed her eyes shut in pain, clutching the area around the injury. She didn't feel any blood, but she couldn't be sure. April struggled to her feet.</p><p>"God save us all, it's a damnation!" Screamed a woman.</p><p>"Oh yeah?" Frank leveled his gun. "We'll see about that!" He fired a shot at the Dalek, but it bounced off the shell with a clang.</p><p>The Doctor placed his hand on the gun. "That's not going to work.</p><p>"There's another!" April shouted as a second Dalek swooped in, blowing up the tents.</p><p>"<strong>The humans will surrender!</strong>" The first Dalek announced.</p><p>The Doctor stepped forwards. "Leave them alone. They've done nothing to you!"</p><p>Explosions lit up the night. The campsite was burning, flames eating away at the only things these people had left in the world. April saw the second Dalek soaring through the air, lights flashing as it let loose ray after ray of destruction. There was a body on the ground, near her, a body of a teenage girl. Her face was bleeding, blood pouring out as flames licked at her legs. April wanted to go to her, to pull her away. If she was still alive, she could still be alive, she could save her! But April was stuck in the tightly packed circle of people clutching their guns as they screamed in terror. April longed to close her eyes, unable to bear the destruction and chaos around her.</p><p>And then, Solomon stepped forward, his face set in determination.</p><p>"No, Solomon," said the Doctor. "Stay back."</p><p>"They're evil," April warned him, shaking her head desperately. <em>NoNoNoNoNO!</em> "They won't negotiate, they won't listen."</p><p>"I'm told that I'm addressing the Daleks," Solomon said, ignoring her. "Is that right?"</p><p>"They. Will. Kill. You!" April yelled. <em>Stop it, just stop it, just stop, stop, stop, STOP!</em> Plead that tiny voice in her head that always told her to run, to hide, to save herself and leave everyone else.</p><p><em>I'm not going to listen to you</em>, April thought. <em>I'm just not.</em></p><p>"From what I hear, you're outcasts too."</p><p>"Solomon, don't!" The Doctor said.</p><p>"Doctor, this is my township. You will respect my authority!" Solomon insisted, stepping forwards again.</p><p>"They need a leader!" April tried. She had been here before, in the rain at night with the battlefield lit by orange fire and the remaining men packed in a tight circle. April had been here, and she was getting it wrong again (again?). But she ignored the part of her that was screaming to stop in her tracks.</p><p>"Just let me try," Solomon said, but he didn't continue.</p><p>"These men, they're scared," April told him. "They need you to help them; if you died, it'd be chaos. We're going to live, and you've got to hold them together."</p><p>"Solomon, you've got to lead them," the Doctor told him. Slowly, Solomon nodded and backed down, towards the crowd. The Dalek shot yet another blast from its weapon. April dived to the side, gasping in pain as her arms absorbed the shock from hitting the ground. She was covered in dirt and probably bugs, but at least she wasn't covered in blood.</p><p>"Dalek!" The Doctor shouted, raising his sonic screwdriver. <em>Okay</em>, April thought, ignoring the part of her that was screaming in protest. It was too late to change that, anyway. <em>Now's the part where Dalek Sec tells him to bring the Doctor to the Empire State Building, right?</em> Shining the sonic screwdriver at the Dalek's casing, he stepped back and grinned at it. <em>I'm pretty sure this didn't happen. Did it?</em></p><p><em>Fool! </em>Screamed the voice that had dedicated itself to keeping her alive.</p><p>"<strong>Readings indicate sonic probe has emitted signals,</strong>" the Dalek announced.</p><p>
  <em>This definitely didn't happen.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Idiot!</em>
</p><p>"This is your warning," said the Doctor. "Leave this planet. Now. Whatever you're doing here, whatever you're planning to use these people for, I will stop you. So, leave."</p><p>"<strong>Signals are intended to reverse the polarity of Dalek weaponry.</strong>"</p><p>The Doctor shrugged. <em>Can he do that? I don't think he can do that. He would have done that earlier if it was possible.</em> "Go, and I won't follow you. Just leave these people in peace."</p><p>
  <em>Dimwit!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What? What's wrong?</em>
</p><p>"<strong>Dalek weaponry is deadlock sealed!</strong>" Announced the Dalek. "<strong>That is impossible! That is impossible! That is impossible!</strong>" <em>He's bluffing</em>, April realized. <em>He did this trick before, I think. On a Cyberman! Made of wood.</em></p><p>"What do you say?" The Doctor asked. Around the circle of men, the pig slaves circled, eyes glittering with malice. Or maybe it was confusion. Maybe it was pain. Maybe the pigmen were scared too, and the light was simply the reflection of the fires, dancing in their eyes. The Dalek paused, considering. And then—</p><p>"<strong>EXTERMINATE!</strong>" From the Dalek's gun shot a stream of blue light. It hit the Doctor in the chest before April had time to react. Harriet screamed as another shot hit the Doctor, then another, then another.</p><p>
  <em>NoNoNoNoNO!</em>
</p><p>He fell to the ground with a dull thud. It wasn't dramatic. He didn't fall in slow motion. And April could see the beams hit him—it wasn't a trick.</p><p>The Doctor was dead. Dying. <em>He can still…he can still regenerate, right?</em></p><p>"Doctor!" Martha shouted. She started to run over to him, but Solomon grabbed her arm.</p><p>"No," he said. "If that thing can't be reasoned with, we kill it."</p><p>"Look!" Tallulah yelled. The Doctor had stood up, glowing orange energy wreathed around his hands, encircling him as he began to regenerate. It was the most beautiful thing April had ever seen.</p><p>"<strong>EXTERMINATE!</strong>" Screamed the Dalek again, and it shot him once more. The regeneration energy disappeared as the Doctor hit the ground again. The Dalek spun so that its gun was facing the huddled mass of people.</p><p>Solomon raised his weapon, ready to fire. Harriet's face was pale, her eyes wide as she stumbled back into the circle. Martha was staring at the Doctor's corpse in shock, torn between helping him and staying away from his murderer. And April was watching in terror as the Dalek prepared to exterminate them all. <em>I messed it up. Somehow saving Solomon messed it up.</em></p><p>The Doctor was dead. Somehow, the Doctor was dead, and he wasn't moving, and he was <em>dead</em>. His eyes stared up at the night, glassy and lifeless as he lay on the ground. He wasn't regenerating. <em>No, no, no, no, no!</em></p><p>Then the Dalek's headlamps lit up as it spoke.</p><p>"<strong>EXTERMINATE!</strong>"</p>
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